


When Blood isn't always Thick

by aalikane



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-02-29
Updated: 2012-03-31
Packaged: 2017-10-31 22:22:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 35,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/348953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aalikane/pseuds/aalikane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Burt and Carole get married, Kurt believes his life is going to go perfect.  He has a father, a step-brother, and a step-mother.  What else could he ask for? Things change though, when Carole starts treating him like the hired help, instead of her step-son like he had hoped for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There will be at least one more chapter after this. At which point the Kurt/Blaine portion of the story will really come into play. Right now they're still just *friends* and not *boyfriends.*
> 
> I wrote this in less than 24 hours, and my hands feel like I've betrayed them, but I think its worth it.

It was the week after the wedding. Burt and Carole tied the knot with Finn and Kurt’s entire glee family there to support them. Everyone loved the wedding, and it was a spectacular night. Kurt honestly thought he was getting what he always wanted, a loving family. Boy was he wrong.

The Monday after the wedding, as Kurt came downstairs to set the table for dinner, Carole smiled at him as he took the plates out of the cabinets and set the table, four this time, instead of two. A few minutes later she spoke up. “Hey Kurt, would you mind cleaning the dishes tonight?  I just got Finn’s grade report back and he really needs to focus on his homework. I’d really appreciate it.”

Kurt wasn’t that surprised that Finn’s grades were poor. He never had his homework in any of the classes that the two had together, and whenever he did have the homework it was always wrong. Sure Carole.” He has no problem with doing the dishes after dinner. In fact it relaxes him. It gives him a chance to soak his hands in hot water, which relaxes them just enough before he goes upstairs to moisturize for the night, making them absorb the moisture better.

What he does have a problem with is when he goes upstairs later on and finds Finn sitting on his bed in front of his television playing Halo. Carole said he had to work on his homework tonight, so why was he playing any video games?

“Aren’t you supposed to be doing homework?”

Finn looks at him strangely, wondering why Kurt even cares. “It’s done.”

“And your mom is letting you play Halo?” Kurt asks, and Finn nods slowly.

“Why wouldn’t she?”

“Oh, I don’t know.  Your grade report maybe?”

“I got two A’s, three B’s and a C+.  She’s ecstatic. She said she was going to give me money to buy a new game tomorrow, actually.” It baffles Kurt, that he gets straight A’s and gets nothing, but Finn gets a C+, and gets a new video game. Something is seriously wrong with that picture.  Little did he know, this little smudge was only the beginning of the ruined portrait he once thought his family would be.

* * *

Carole and Burt were lying in bed later that night. Carole was on her side of the bed, reading her magazine, when she looks up and asks “Burt, why do you just give Kurt so much money as an allowance?”

Burt is a little preoccupied, trying to get his wife to put the magazine down and come celebrate their marriage with him, but answers her as best he can with only a small amount of blood supply to his brain.

“He’s earned it through his chores, homework and working at the shop.” He leans over and kisses her neck, trying to entice her into a more intimate scenario.

“It’s too much.  I’m going to cut it back a little, okay?” Burt gives a noncommittal grunt, and goes back to seducing his wife, who grins and gives in.

* * *

The next day, when Carole gives both boys their allowances, Kurt looks at the paltry sum she handed him and widens his eyes. “Why has my allowance been cut?”

“It’s not right to get all that much money for no reason.  You need to earn it.” Carole answers matter of factly, but Kurt is angry.

“I worked 15 hours in the shop last week.  Dad has always paid me out of pocket for working there, that’s why I get so much money as an allowance.”

“You shouldn’t get paid for working at the family business.  You should do it to help your family.” Carole admonished, and Kurt shook his head. This wasn’t fair.

“So is Finn going to have to start working there too?” He asks, and Carole glares at him.

“We’ll see.  Either way, if you want more money you’ll need to get a part time job.” Kurt shakes his head and storms off, muttering about the fact that he already has a part time job, and she just stole his money from him.

* * *

Later that day, when Kurt went to the shop for his afternoon of work, he walked up to his Dad in the office and began to tell him the situation before he left for the day.

“Dad, did you agree to cut my pay from the shop?” Burt looked at him dumbfounded, unsure of what Kurt was talking about.

“What do you mean?” He asked, while focusing on some invoices.

“Carole gave me ¼ of what I should have received as an allowance.  I worked here 15 hours last week.  I should have made over 135 dollars, but no.  She gave me 35. I depend on that money, Dad.” Burt sighed. He vaguely remembered something Carole said about cutting Kurt’s allowance, but he didn’t think she was going to take the money he earned at the shop.

“I’ll take care of it Kurt, I promise.” Burt took out a post-it note and wrote down “add Kurt to payroll” before looking up to see Kurt still standing there awkwardly. Burt raised an eyebrow.

“What is it?” Kurt took a deep breath.

“Can I borrow $25?  I need to fill up the Navigator so I can get to school this week and with the price of gas lately…” He trailed off, and Burt smiled and nodded.

“Sure, Kurt.” Burt took his wallet out and gave Kurt two twenties.

* * *

Later that week, Carole was at the shop’s office and saw the post-it note that Burt had written a few days prior. She wasn’t happy that Burt was going behind her back.

“Burt why is Kurt on the payroll for the shop?” She asks him politely, and Burt replied offhand.

“Because he needs the money and you cut his allowance.”

“I cut his allowance for a reason, Burt.  He does not need as much money as you’ve been giving him.” She reasons, and Burt shakes his head.

“Actually, he does Carole. He needs to make payments on the Navigator; he needs to pay for his own gas and insurance.  I don’t pay that stuff for him.” Carole grunted her displeasure at her husband’s actions.

“So you went behind my back and stopped me from teaching Kurt a lesson about responsibility?” Carole asked incredulously. Burt stopped what he was doing and turned to look at his wife.

“Kurt is the most responsible kid I’ve ever met, Carole.  More responsible than Finn, by the way.” He stares at his wife, who glares back at him.

“That’s not true.”

“Kurt gets Straight A’s, keeps his room clean works at the shop when needed, goes to bed early and never stays out late.” Burt throws a towel that he had in his hand after working on a car on the floor, getting frustrated with his wife. “While Finn struggles to get his mediocre grades, stays up far too late playing video games with Puck, lives in that pig sty he calls a room and doesn’t work for the allowance you give him.  Why are you teaching my son about responsibility when you haven’t taught your own?” Burt questioned, and Carole looked at him weakly.

“I’ve tried to teach Finn, trust me.  I have, but he doesn’t take to it at all.  We need at least one responsible child around here.” She rationalized.  Burt shook his head.

“No Carole.  What we need is two.”

* * *

A few days later, Kurt started attending Dalton Academy for Boys in Westerville Ohio. Burt and Carole both offered up their honeymoon money to send him, because he as being bullied at McKinley; however that didn’t stop Carole from bullying Kurt at home. From the day that Kurt dropped out of McKinley, to the day that he started Dalton (a whole 5 days) she worked him to the bone, with the idea that since she was giving up her vacation for him, the least he could do was help her with the housework.  Well, help with, was a false term. He was doing everything. He cooked, he cleaned, and he did the laundry.  She had him go grocery shopping, while she sat around watching her soap operas all day long.  It drove Kurt bonkers, but he knew he’d be at Dalton soon, and this would stop.  She couldn’t have him doing all this as he attended a new school, right?

“I hope you enjoyed your first day of Dalton, Kurt.  How was it?” She said as he walked in the door after school that first day. She smiled and warmly welcomed him back home.

“Okay.  Blaine showed me around and introduced me to the rest of the Warblers.  But because I’m transferring in so late in the semester, I literally have hours upon hours of homework to do.  So if you’ll excuse me…” He wasn’t really comfortable around Carole. She was trying too hard to be his mother, and he didn’t want a replacement mother. Sure he thought it would be nice to have a woman in the house, but he didn’t want her to try and replace Elizabeth Hummel, the only woman Kurt has and will ever call ‘Mom.’

Later that night, after they all finish eating, Kurt stands up to start doing the dishes, like he always does, like he has no problems doing, when Carole speaks up. “Finn, why don’t you help Kurt with the dishes, he’s still got a lot of homework to do, don’t you?” This surprised Kurt immensely, but he wasn’t going to deny help when it was offered to him, even if it wasn’t voluntarily offered by Finn.

“Yea, not to mention 50 pages of reading to do for English.” Carole smiled at him, as if she were doing him a favor by making Finn help him.

“Do I have to?  The guys had all planned to play Call of Duty after dinner.” He groaned and complained.  The parents however just shook their heads.

“Clean quickly and you can still play.” Carole said.

“If you’ve finished your homework, that is.” Burt reminded him, and it showed on Finn’s face just how much homework he didn’t do all day.

* * *

It’s about 4 weeks later and both Finn and Kurt were on winter vacation. Kurt only got off two days ago, but he could already sense that Carole was going to go back to her old habits and make him start doing more chores again. He had no problem doing chores, he just hated that he was the only one who ever did them. Finn never did anything. He never even clears his plate from the table after dinner. If Kurt knew that this is what was going to happen when he introduced his father to Carole, he would have stopped himself, because he never would have willingly put himself through so much unfair treatment.

“Kurt, can you come here for a minute?” Burt shouts up the stairs to Kurt, who was in his room, reading a book his English teacher assigned for winter reading.

“Sure Dad, what’s up?” Kurt asks as he comes bounding down the stairs.

“Dalton sent home your first grade report, today.” Kurt gulped, unsure of precisely what it was going to say. He knows he struggled a little bit when he first started getting settled, but he felt that he was doing better.

“How’d I do?”

“Straight A’s. Congratulations Kurt.” Burt told him, with a giant smile on his face a mile wide.

“Seriously?” Kurt asked, unable to believe what his father had just told him.

“Well done.  We’re so proud of you.” Carole said, and she got up to hug Kurt who was still too shocked to register it.

“Thanks Carole.” He said as he heard the tail end of her compliment.

“Does this mean I can expect you back at the shop now that you know what you can and can’t handle?” Kurt weighs his options, and nods his head.

“Sure Dad, but only on weekends, okay?  I still need to study and stuff during the week.”  Burt seemed to be happy with that, and let his son go when Carole spoke up.

“Kurt are you doing anything right now?” There’s a pause when Kurt looks at her curiously. “I mean, were you doing anything before we called you down here?” Kurt shrugged.

“Just reading for English.  Nothing that I can’t put off until tomorrow.  Why?” He asked, and inwardly sighed as he knew what was coming. He wished that he could lie to her and tell her that he was doing something important, but the one rule in his and his father’s house had always been to tell the truth, no lying. That rule stayed when Carole and Finn moved in, and Kurt refused to bend it.

“Do you think you could run to the grocery store for me?  I’d go but you know what happens when I go, I end up buying more groceries than we actually need.” Kurt forces a smile; at least it would get him out of the house.

“Sure Carole.  No problem.”

* * *

There’s something about being called into the guidance counselor’s office that has Kurt on edge. He cannot help but be nervous when he was called out of his third period Physics class to be told the guidance counselor, Mrs. Johnson, wished to see and speak to him. Everyone knew that things like this only happened when something was wrong, but for the life of him, Kurt couldn’t figure out what was wrong.  Not school wise anyway.  Sure his grades had started to slip a little bit, but that was only because he couldn’t study nearly as much as he used to before Winter break. When his family cared for him as a son, instead of a maid and a butler.

“Thanks for coming in, Kurt.” She said, as he walked into the office behind her.  Kurt sat down in the chair she motioned at and placed his bag on the floor. He looked at her inquiringly.

“I’m a little confused as to why I’m here…” He said honestly, and she smiled.

“It has come to my attention that your grades have been slipping, Kurt.  Is everything okay?” Kurt gulped. Everything was not okay. He never had time to do his homework, or study nearly as much as he wished he could. Not with the amount of stuff Carole is always asking him to do. But he can’t tell his guidance counselor that, she wouldn’t understand just how bad things have gotten, would she?

“Yea, I just… haven’t been able to study as much as I used to.” He lies, and it appears that she can see right through it, though she says nothing to the contrary.

“How come?” Kurt shrugged.

“I’ve just been doing a lot of stuff lately.” This wasn’t a lie.  He had been doing a lot of stuff lately, just not a lot of stuff he wanted to do.  It was a lot of stuff that _Carole_ wanted him to do, and he hated doing it, though he never complained about it.

“Maybe you should cut down on some of that stuff.” Kurt snorted at that.

“Oh that I could.” He muttered, but Mrs. Johnson caught it.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Anything that causes your grades to drop isn’t nothing Kurt.  What’s going on?” Kurt sighed, he really didn’t want to include Mrs. Johnson in his family troubles, but what was he to do? She wanted to know, and she wasn’t likely to let him leave until he did.

“I’m being over burdened with chores at home and I don’t have enough time to bathe and take care of basic bodily functions most days, let alone homework.” Kurt confessed, knowing that he wanted to get this conversation out of the way, because it was going to happen whether he liked it or not.

“Why are you doing so many chores?” She looked down, presumably at Kurt’s Dalton File, which held all of his McKinley records, his transfer application and any other tidbit of information deemed necessary to keep on file. “I see in your file that you have a stepbrother, why doesn’t he help out with them?”

Kurt couldn’t help but snort at the assumption that Finn should help with chores. “Because my step-mother seems to think I’m Cinderella.  I wake up every morning at 5am so I can shower, get dressed, eat and leave for school by 6:15.  I get home by 4:30 when there’s no Warbler’s practice, 5:45 when there is.  I get on average 4 hours of homework per night but when I get home she expects me to clean all the dishes, do the laundry, dust, vacuum, and clean all the bathrooms and anything else that needs done on a weekly basis when Finn does nothing but play video games, watch TV and bounce between one girlfriend to the next. He does nothing around the house, neither does she and it drives me insane.  My father and I are the only ones that work at all. They’re sponging off my Dad, and I can’t stand to see them do it.”

“What does your father say about all this?” A bark of laughter escaped Kurt’s lips.

“He can’t say no to her.” He grinds his teeth for a moment before continuing. “He went so long without having a woman in his life that he’s, pardon the language, pussywhipped.” If she was offended by the statement, she didn’t let it show, and continued as if she hadn’t learned that part of her student’s father’s personal life.

“Have you tried telling her that you need a break?” She asked, as if it was so easy to do when Carole wanted nothing to do but keep Kurt busy cleaning.

“She thinks that because I ended last semester with Straight A’s that I can handle everything else she throws at me.  I can’t win with her. Nothing I do seems to make her proud.  If I clean all the dishes after dinner, she tells me that they’re soap spots.  If I vacuum the rug, she tells me that I missed a spot.  If I do the laundry, she tells me that her whites aren’t white enough. There is literally nothing I can do to make her take it easier on me.”

She looked pensive for a moment, pondering what to do. She never usually got involved with her students’ home lives but in this case she feels that she must. Kurt’s home life, while not abusive, was definitely not healthy. “Tell you what, I’m going to call them in for a parent-teacher conference and we’ll see if we can get this straightened out.  Your education is more important than clean drapes.” She says, and Kurt leans back in his chair and sighs. This can’t end well.

* * *

After Kurt left Mrs. Johnson’s office a little while later, Blaine caught up to him in the hall. Kurt loved having Blaine as a friend, because Blaine was always so friendly and caring. He never once made Kurt feel like he was a burden, the way Carole made him feel, and he was always there to lend an ear to Kurt when he needed to rant and rave about his parents’ unfair treatment of him and Finn.

“Hey, what’s going on, why were you called to the guidance counselor?” He asked, as they fell into unison, walking to their next class on the other side of the building. Kurt sighed.

“Because my stepmother is Lady Tremaine.” Blaine bit back a laugh.

“She can’t be that bad.” Blaine countered, trying to lighten the mood. But in reality, he knew what was going on at Kurt’s house, and he didn’t like it one bit.  It concerned him greatly and wished he could do something about it.

“You have no idea.”

* * *

Three days later, Carole and Burt were sitting in the same office Kurt was just a few days prior.  Neither of them really knows why they were called in, except that issues revolving around Kurt needed to be discussed. Once Mrs. Johnson sat back down in her chair after greeting them, she got down to business.

“Mr. and Mrs. Hummel, thank you for meeting with me today.  I’d like to talk to you about your son.’

“I was surprised to find out we need to meet.” Burt said honestly, he hadn’t known that something was wrong with Kurt until today and he still didn’t know _what._

“What did Kurt do wrong?” Carole asked bitterly.

Mrs. Johnson looked at the formidable woman across from her intensely, before responding. “Why do you assume he’s done something wrong?”

“You called us in for a parent-teacher conference.  What other reason could there be except he is in trouble?” She shook her head at the assumption.

“Surprisingly, Mrs. Hummel, he isn’t in trouble.  But I did talk to him the other day and a few things he said alarmed me.” Burt perked up at this, and Carole scoffed.

“Like what?” Burt asked, concerned for his son.

“He said that he doesn’t have time to study and do homework because he has too many chores at home.”  Carole rolled her eyes.

“I don’t see how that is any of your business.”

“When Kurt’s grades begin to drop, it becomes my business.” Mrs. Johnson says adamantly. She cares about every one of her students, even those she only really got to know a few days ago.

“He doesn’t have that much to do.” Carole defended. Mrs. Johnson knew that she was going to have a hard time with Kurt’s stepmother, and she knew that she’d have to tread carefully if she was going to be effective at all.

“I’m not saying he does, and I’m not saying he doesn’t.  But with Dalton comes certain standards and one of those standards is that students’ schoolwork be exemplary.  For someone who spent so many years in public school, it can be a daunting task.  Kurt was doing spectacularly last semester.  Now he’s not. There must be something that has changed between then and now, to cause this.” Carole scowls. “I feel that maybe there is something you can do at home, to make things easier on him? Maybe cut back on his chores, or help him monetarily so he doesn’t have to work at his part-time job so much?

“We’ll try.  Finn can do more chores at home.” Burt said, wanting to help his son in any way he can.

“Like hell he will.  My son won’t be doing extra chores because your son can’t handle the pressure.” Carole said resentfully

It was Burt’s turn to scoff. “Finn doesn’t do any chores.  No matter how many times I tell you that he should.”

“We’ll talk about this later.” She replied, not wanting to air any more of their dirty laundry in front of this stranger.

* * *

Later that day, Kurt is pulling into the driveway, wondering precisely how the parent-guidance counselor conference went between his parents and Mrs. Johnson when he noticed that Finn’s car wasn’t in the driveway. Neither was his Dad’s. This meant that Carole was home. She was the only one home.  This was not a good thing, not a good thing at all.

He didn’t want to enter the house without someone else there, but what was he going to do? Go to the shop and hide, because he was scared of his step-mother? Run to Mercedes’ or Rachel’s house and tell them? Neither of them would believe him, because they’ve both met Carole and think she’s absolutely brilliant. He sighed, and put his Navigator in park, before walking up the steps. The moment he entered the house, he was bombarded by the woman he was so hoping was preoccupied.

“How DARE you tell someone about what goes on in our own home?  Who do you think you are?  Whining to your teacher that you have too many chores?  Everyone has chores, you’re not special.” She shouted at him, before he got both feet inside the entryway of their house. This angered him. Carole was always passive aggressive in her dislike for Kurt before, but this time, she was actively telling him how horrible he’s being, when in fact he’s done nothing of the sort.

“Finn doesn’t. In fact, Finn does nothing.  Why is that?” He asked, cocking his head to the side and giving her his best bitch face.

“Don’t bring Finn into this.  This is about you and your holier than thou attitude, thinking you should be able to get away with not pulling your own weight in this house.” Kurt’s eyes widened, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  He pulled his weight more than anyone in the house, except his father. Considering Carole and Finn never did _anything._

“My attitude?” He yells.  “You mean the one who where I work my ass off without complaint until I got to a point that my teachers and guidance counselor have to step in?” He drops his bag on the ground and walks over towards her, towering over her.  “Or are we talking about the fact that I go to school all day and come home to have to do 4 hours of cleaning every night while you sit at home, or go to the mall all day and burn all of Dad’s hard earned money while doing absolutely nothing to earn any yourself?” He shouted.

“What I do is none of your business, young man.  And you will show me some respect.” She replies haughtily, and Kurt laughs.

“Like hell I will.  You have to give respect to get it.  I gave it to you for months and I never got any in return.  Then you accost me before I even get in the front door?” He shakes his head, so over all the drama that she causes in his life.  “So I’m done.  Have fun living in a dirty house, because I won’t be cleaning it anymore.

“Don’t you walk away from me, young man.”

“Or what?” He turns around and faces her. “You’ll do what, if I do? Tell me to scrub the floors with my toothbrush? Tell me to comb through the carpets with fine tooth comb, while you sit on your fat ass and do absolutely nothing of value?” That’s when it hits him.  Well more to the point, that’s when her hand hits him, right across the face.

“Apologize, right now.”

“No.” He said, before turning around and going up to his room. He locked his door, and collapsed onto his bed. He refused to cry, he refused to let her hear him sob into his pillow.  He refused to let her win. But the self-control that required was getting harder and harder every time he needed it.

* * *

Later that night, Kurt was sitting on his computer, writing up an essay for his English class, when Kurt enters his room, unasked. He plops down on Kurt’s perfectly made bed annoying Kurt to no end.

“What is your problem, dude?” He asked, and Kurt looks up and takes a deep breath to prevent him from saying something he shouldn’t.

“None of your business, Finn.” He says, before returning to his paper.

“You’re being a whiny bitch, you know that?” Finn says, and Kurt has to work hard to keep control of his actions, because if he hadn’t Finn would have a bruise forming where his eye is in a few minutes.

“I’m being treated like a slave in my own home, and because I think that’s unfair I’m a whiny bitch?” Kurt asks incredulously.  Finn nods.

“Well, yeah.  Our parents treat us the same, dude.” He says, and Kurt goes slack jawed, unable to understand how Finn could think that.

“The fact that you think that is true hurts more than the actual unfair treatment.” Kurt says, before pointing to the door. “Please leave.”

“No.” Finn says, staying right where he is. “Not until you tell me why you’re being such a brat.”

“Finn, what do you do around here?   Like for the house?  What do you that contributes to the family’s well being, instead of just for your own amusement?” Kurt finds it sad that Finn has to actually think about this for a minute before answering.

“I do the dishes.” Kurt shakes his head.

“You do the dishes when Carole or Burt asks you to help me with them. I do them every night, not you.  Next?” Finn has to think even harder.

“I…”

“You can’t think of a single thing, can you?” Kurt asks, and Finn looks towards the door, as if he wants to bolt. “I clean the dishes every night, I vacuum the carpets in every room at least 3 times a week, I scrub the floors of all the bathrooms, and the kitchen twice a week, I dust all the knick knacks, curtains and drapes every week, and that is just the tip of the list of what I do around here.”

“But you do all that stuff on your own dude.  No one is making you do it.” Finn points out, and Kurt shakes his head.

“Your mom is making me do it, Finn. I don’t want to do any of it, with the possible exception of cleaning dishes after dinner, because I actually enjoy that on occasion. But everything else? I am forced to do because your mother doesn’t want to make you do a single god damned thing. You don’t see that as a problem, and my father isn’t home enough to realize it. If being upset that I’m being unfairly causes me to act like a whiny bitch, then sure.  I’m a whiny bitch. But I’m also a whiny bitch who has to finish writing this paper that is due tomorrow, so can you please just leave me alone so I can get to work?” Kurt asks, trying his damned to keep his tone and volume under control.  It was hard because Finn’s actions were making him want to punch a wall, but he knows that if he did he’d have to clean it up himself.

* * *

One day after Kurt and Carole had their screaming match in the entryway of their house, Kurt decided enough was enough.  There was no way he was going to continue abiding by their rules, if they weren’t even going to respect him enough to treat him fairly. So after a night out with Blaine, where they both went to a movie that let out far later than Kurt’s curfew, Burt was pissed. Especially because he didn’t know about Kurt’s new found belief regarding family rules and curfews.

“Kurt, where have you been?” Burt bellowed, as Kurt entered through the front door.

“Out.” He replied, not even looking at his father.

“Out where?” Burt asked, but Kurt shrugged.

“Just out.  You don’t need to know where I was.  I’m perfectly safe now, aren’t I?” Kurt countered, and Burt grinded his teeth.

“Your curfew was an hour ago.” Kurt rolled his eyes.

“I don’t recognize your arbitrary period of time in which I must return home anymore.  If this family is going to treat me as an unappreciated servant rather than a son, I’m not going to obey the rules you have for your son.” Kurt said, before walking up to his room, leaving his father in the entryway.  Burt wasn’t happy about this new side of his son, and followed him upstairs.

“Of course you’re my son, Kurt.  Where is all this coming from?” He asked, and Kurt chuckled.

“I know that I set the two of you up, but I didn’t think when I did, that Carole would turn into the evil Stepmother of legend after you two got married.” Kurt said, taking his shirt off as he got ready for bed.

“That’s harsh; don’t talk about her that way.” Burt demanded, and Kurt shook his head in defiance.

“When she talks to me whatever way she wants, I will talk about her whatever way I want.” Kurt counters, and Burt huffs.

“I don’t like this attitude, Kurt.  You used to be such a good kid.” It was true, Kurt used to be so nice and polite to everyone around him. It was only recently that Burt saw a change in Kurt’s behavior. He had no idea why, but he didn’t like it one bit.

“And I still could be good, if I y’know didn’t have a stepmother who likes to use me as her personal servant and if I had a father with a backbone to stand up to her.” Kurt told him, flopping down onto his bed, as if he wasn’t currently having an argument about his father.

“Kurt…” Burt said in a warning tone. Kurt sneered.

“I’m almost 18 Dad.  What happens in a year and a half when I graduate and go to New York?  Who is going to do all the housework then?  Carole won’t.  Finn won’t.  Both of them are the laziest people I’ve ever met.” Burt finally had it, he was tired of his son’s disrespect of everyone in his family, and he had to step up and lay down the law.

“You’re grounded.  Until you can learn to speak with some respect to your stepmother, stepbrother and me.”

“Whatever.” Kurt said, unphased by the grounding. Why would he?  He doesn’t obey the family’s rules anymore, why would grounding hold him back?

* * *

The next day, Kurt and Blaine meet up at lunch. They’re talking with some of their friends, when Kurt turns to Blaine and asks “Hey do you think I could crash at your house tonight?” Blaine looks at him curiously.

“I guess so my parents shouldn’t have a problem with it.” Kurt looks relieved.

“Thanks.”

“Why aren’t you going home?” Wes asks, overhearing their conversation.

“I was grounded and I can’t stand it there at the moment.” Kurt replies. All the Warblers knew the basics of how much Kurt despised his family currently, but they didn’t know quite as much as Blaine did.

“That’s sucks…but if you’re grounded…how can you stay at my house?” Blaine asks.

“I honestly don’t give a damn about my grounding. Let my dad get pissed, I don’t care anymore.” Kurt says, and Blaine nods.

“This still about your stepmother?” Kurt nods his head, a look of disgust gracing his face.

“Yea, she’s getting worse and now my Dad is siding with her. I never thought things would get so bad.”

“Don’t worry.  You know you’re always welcome at my house.” Blaine says, and Kurt welcomes that knowledge more than Blaine, Wes or any of the other Warblers could possibly imagine.

* * *

That night, Julia and Martin Anderson were ecstatic to have Kurt stay over.  They loved him, as much as they loved Blaine. They considered him a second son, and hated hearing about his troubles at home.

“So Kurt, Blaine says you’re having family trouble?” Kurt nodded.

“My stepfamily is the stepfamily from Hell and my father is slowly being sucked in.” They all chuckled at the analogy, even though it was far from sarcastic.

“How so?” Martin asked, and Kurt placed his fork on his plate, to describe his family’s current dynamic.

“My stepbrother is a moron who thinks sitting on his butt playing Call of Duty with his friends while I do all the housework is fair.” Both Julia and Martin looked at him skeptically when he said this. “No really, I pointed it out to him one day and he was like ‘That’s completely fair, Dude.’ “He said in his best Finn voice. Blaine chuckled at the spot on impression.  “My stepmother doesn’t want her or her precious son lifting a finger so she has me do it all and my Dad is too astounded by the idea of having sex on a regular basis to stand up to her.” Julia and Martin’s face clearly expressed what they refused to say aloud.

“That’s horrible.” Blaine’s mother said, and Kurt nodded his agreement.

“When they first got married, the first thing she did was cut my allowance.  Giving me ¼ of what I was supposed to get.  The fact that my dad used to pay me out of pocket for all the work that I did in the shop, never clued in to her. So it was like I was getting less than minimum wage until my Dad stepped in.  Unfortunately, that was also the last time he really stepped in. It makes me sick.” Kurt said, picking his fork back up and taking a bite of the delicious meal that Julia had prepared, with Kurt’s help that evening.

“Makes me appreciate you guys more and more…” Blaine commented, making the other occupants of the table smile.

“And don’t you forget it.” Martin pointed out, smirking as he did so.

“I just can’t wait until I can leave that stupid house and never return.”  He lamented, staring into his mashed potatoes. Julia and Martin looked at each other from across the table. They both hated that their son’s best friend was so downtrodden. He was one of the most polite, well-spoken, and well-mannered boys they’d ever met; and that is saying something because they had at least met every one of Blaine’s friends from Dalton.

“Kurt, you’re welcome here whenever you’d like.” Martin tells him, Julia nodding along.

“Thank you, Mr. Anderson.” Kurt says, forcing a smile at the two of them.

“Please, call me Martin.”

* * *

Later on when Kurt finally checks his phone to see how many times his father called to find out where he was (10, to be exact) he decided to call his father, and let him know precisely why he didn’t come home that night.  Burt wasn’t happy. Julia and Martin were in their living room, when they heard Kurt on the phone, and it broke their heart when he got off the phone.

“Dad, I don’t care that I’m grounded.  I told you if you, Carole and Finn won’t treat me as family, then I’m not going to obey family rules.  I’m at a friend’s house and that’s all you need to know.” There was a pause, probably Burt asking where he was, or who he was with.  “No, I will not tell you which friend.” Another pause. “Because that would defeat the purpose of not coming back to your house tonight.” They hated that Kurt no longer refers to his house as home. Every person, no matter what age should have a home. “It hasn’t been my home in months.”

After he hangs up the phone, Julia calls him into the living room, so she and Martin can talk with him. After taking a deep breath and trying to relax after arguing with his father, he entered the Anderson’s living room.

“What’s going on?”

“We just wanted to reiterate that if you ever need a place to stay, you can stay here.” Julia told him, and Kurt grimaced.

“You heard that, did you?” He asked, and they both nodded.

“If it gets too hard for you at home… you’re always welcome here.” Martin says, and Kurt looks at him doubtfully.

“Are you suggesting what I think you are?”

“We are, Kurt.” Martin says, before Julia expands.

“If you want to, we’d be happy if you moved in here.” They said, and Kurt was gob smacked. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Seriously? I’d love to!”  He paused, and then continued “But I can’t put you out like that…”

“Don’t think about that, Kurt.  We care about you and we don’t want you to suffer anymore than you already have.” Martin says, and Kurt can feel the tears welling up in his eyes. Not because of their generosity, not because of his family’s unfair treatment. But because for the first time in months, someone actually genuinely cares about his wellbeing, and he hasn’t had that in a long time.

* * *

Every day for the next two weeks, Kurt would slowly move some of his things out of his house. A suitcase full of clothes here, a box full of shoes, there. His room was always tidy, and no one ever went into it, so neither Burt, nor Carole nor did Finn ever notice that something was happening. Then the morning that all of Kurt’s things had finally been moved into Blaine’s home, was coincidentally the morning of Kurt’s birthday. He got up earlier than usual that morning, because he wanted to get the last vestiges of his life into the Navigator. His laptop.  His printer. His iPhone, and his last suitcase of clothes, containing his Dalton uniforms, and a few odd pieces of clothing he left here in case he were to go somewhere outside the house that he needed to dress for.

But that was it. There was nothing left in his room. Nothing but the bed and dressers. He felt bad about leaving the boudoir that had his mother’s scent engrained in it, but he couldn’t take it with him as it was in his father’s bedroom, and it would be too heavy to move on his own. So instead he took one last look at his very bare room, and closed the door lightly.

He walked downstairs and too an envelope out of his pocket and placed it on the dining room table. With a final look at the kitchen that he’d grown up in, he took the key to the house off of his key ring, and placed it next to the envelope and quietly left the house.

He didn’t know how his father reacted when he read the letter, nor did he want to know how Carole would react. He knows that in about two hours when they all got up, he’d get an angry call from his dad on his cell phone. But by then, he’d be eating breakfast at Blaine’s house with Blaine, Martin and Julia, the three people in his life that he knows care about him, and would never abuse his generosity.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Burt finds the letter that Kurt left, and Kurt settles into his new life at the Andersons' residence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I thought there'd only be one more chapter left. But I hadn't even gotten 1/4 of the way through what I wanted to for the second chapter with this, and its likely going to take another couple chapters. But for some reason, I don't think anyone is going to be disappointed...

When Burt woke up that morning, he had no clue what was in store for him that day. He figured he would get up, take a shower, get dressed, eat a heart-healthy breakfast (because he knew that Kurt and Carole would murder him if he ate anything unhealthy) and go to work.  That’s been his daily routine for the past 25 years. Very few times has he not had this daily routine to go through.  Some may call it a rut, but he is content with it.  He might not know how many customers he’ll have in a day, or what type of work he’ll be doing on cars that particular morning, but he knows he’ll be at the shop, and he’ll be supporting his family. The way a man is supposed to do.

Because that’s what he was taught as a boy. That a man supports and protects his family at all costs. That a husband and a father must do whatever it takes to do what is needed for the ones he loved and cared about.

Once he had taken his shower and was ready to go to work, he went downstairs; banging on both Finn and Kurt’s doors to wake them up, just like he did every morning before he went downstairs. Kurt he usually didn’t have to wake up, because he was usually out the door 20 minutes before Burt was, but Kurt had been giving him a hard time lately and he had no clue why. Well that’s not completely true. He didn’t agree with Carole’s idea of giving Kurt al the housework to do.  He didn’t like that Kurt’s grades were suffering because of it. But he didn’t want to anger his wife. He loved her, and he had gone so long without a woman in his life, to care for him, to watch over him and his family. Despite what she was doing to Kurt, he felt that she had an actual positive impact on their family unit, which is why he didn’t want to run her off. There hadn’t been a woman’s touch in the house for so long; he had almost forgotten what it was like.

He walked down the stairs and went to make himself a pot of the decaf coffee that he is allowed to have. Everyone else in the family is allowed to have caffeinated, but he is only allowed to have decaf. He is just pouring his cup, when he sees it.

The letter and the key sitting on the dining room table.  He looks at it curiously, before walking over and picking it up.  It’s not addressed to anyone in particular, so he opens it up and takes out one of the pieces of paper inside.

_Dear Dad,_

_As a child, you depend on your parents to protect and provide for you the basic human necessities everyone needs to survive. Shelter, food, clothing, and safety. For the first seventeen and a half years of my life, you provided these basic needs at a level above and beyond what was expected. You taught me to be proud of who I was, and who I am.  You taught me to stand up for myself, and to not let anyone push a Hummel around. I feel that for the past 6 months, I have failed you in that respect. Because I have let people push me around. I have let a woman walk all over me, while acting as if I were perfectly fine with it.  I have let a boy use me as his personal maid and I have let my father watch it all happen and not asked him to step in and stop it._

_This is why I will not be coming back here tonight. I love you Dad. But I cannot live in this house anymore. I’ve been living in a fairy tale for the past six months, and it is time that I get my happy ending. They say that blood is thicker than water, but I think you’ve been on blood thinners for so long, that the saying is no longer true. Because if it was, I wouldn’t be this unhappy. I wouldn’t feel as if no one in my family cares about me. I wouldn’t feel as if the only people, who truly careare my friends and their parents._

_I love you Dad, but I cannot stay here anymore._

_Goodbye_

_Kurt_

 

A little over a half hour later, Carole made her way downstairs in her bathrobe, hoping to find a pot of coffee ready to drink, when she sees her husband sitting at the dining room table.  He hadn’t mentioned taking a day off, nor had he mentioned having one of the guys opening the shop for him, so finding him here when he should be working was not something she was happy about.

“Why aren’t you at work?  Who is going to open the shop?” She continues to throw demanding and overbearing questions and accusations at him, but Burt doesn’t even hear them. The only thing he can hear is the sound of his son’s childish laughter ringing throughout his mind. Once he had read the letter, he couldn’t help but think over the past few months, and realize that maybe he hadn’t been paying as much attention as he should have.  Maybe things had gotten worse. Thinking of all the bad forced him to think about the good times, when it was just him and Kurt together. Right after Elizabeth died, and before Carole ever made her presence known to either Burt or Kurt. After a few minutes of Carole’s barrage of accusations, she sees the letter in his hand. “What’s in your hand?”

“A letter, from Kurt.  He left.” Burt says simply, the fact that his son ran away without telling anyone, hadn’t quite sunk in yet.

“He ran away?  Why?” Carole asked, concern not even tingeing in her voice.

“According to the letter, because of you.” Burt says, looking up at his wife, who didn’t look at all regretful.

“That’s preposterous. What could I have possibly done to him?” Carole scoffed, and went into the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee.

“What didn’t you do to him, Carole?” Burt asked, holding up another piece of paper that Kurt had left in the envelope with the letter.

“What’s that?” Carole asked, curious about the paper’s contents.

“A list…. A list of everything you’ve ever had him do around here since the wedding. It has dates, hours, minutes… It even gives details about the weather on a few of them…” Carole’s face paled a little at that mention, but her actions didn’t indicate that she thought anything was wrong.

“Oh please, tell me what does Kurt think is so wrong?”

“Is it true you had him climb up to the roof to clean the chimney, and then screamed at him for the soot that fell into the living room?” Burt asked, and Carole shrugged.

“He made a mess!” She insisted. She always insisted that nothing she had Kurt do was wrong or unfair.

“We haven’t used the fireplace in over 10 years, Carole.  Why did you feel the need to have it cleaned?”

“It was dirty!” Burt rubbed at his temples. He knew his wife liked a clean house, but usually people with OCD about cleanliness like to do the cleaning themselves, not have their step-son do it for them.

“And what’s this about washing the floor of the shed two months ago, while it was below 32 degrees outside?” Burt asked, his voice bellowing throughout the house.

“Have you seen the amount of gook and grime that is in that thing. Disgusting.” Carole said, un-phased by Burt’s roaring volume. What was so wrong with having Kurt do manual labor like cleaning out the shed? Didn’t all boys have to clean out their family’s shed at one time or another?

“Why did you never have Finn do any of this?” Burt demanded, slamming the piece of paper down onto the table.

I’m not going to make him clean something he’s not responsible for.”




“WHAT ABOUT HIS OWN DAMN BEDROOM?” Burt screamed at her, and she flinched a tiny bit.  Not enough to show actual fear or anxiety, but just enough to let Burt know that he was getting his anger across.

“What do you mean?”

“It says here that you had him clean Finn’s bedroom 5 times in the past 4 months.  I can’t believe you would do something so….” Burt couldn’t even finish his sentence, he was seething with so much rage.

“He should be glad that I think he is mature enough to handle all the responsibility.” Carole scoffed and finished pouring herself that cup of coffee she was attempting to earlier.

“You did this.  You drove my son away from me. I thought he was just being sensitive, but God.  I swear Carole, if we can’t make this right with him, I will never forgive you.” Burt tells her, and she rolls her eyes.

“Why do you even care? He’s not even your son.  He’s your freaking daughter and you know it.” It’s clear from the look on Carole’s face that she never intended to say that, but it was out in the open now.  She couldn’t take it back, and Burt was livid after hearing it.

“Is that why you did all this?  You think Kurt is just some girl who needs to learn her place in the home?” Burt yells at her, before throwing his abandoned coffee mug against the wall, watching it smash to a thousand pieces. Carole recoils away from him, having never seen him this angry before. “What about your place, huh?  Or do you think it is in the mall spending my hard earned money?”

“Oh go to hell.” She says, moving farther away from him.

“If I don’t get my son back, we both will.  It’s called divorce court.”

* * *

Kurt drove along the road carefully, not wanting any of his last minute breakables to get destroyed as he moved his final things into the Anderson home.  Every day for the past two weeks, he had loaded his car with everything in his room, from books to movies, from clothes to shoes, and every type of cleanser, lotion, cologne, and make up he possessed. Everything got snuck into his car, and after school every day, he and Blaine would unload everything from his car, into Blaine’s and Blaine would bring it home where Julia, Martin and Blaine would unload everything into Kurt’s new room. It had been Blaine’s idea to do it this way, because from what he knew of Carole, she wouldn’t be so keen to let Kurt leave the house with all his stuff if given the chance.

“Hi sweetie.” Julia says as he gets out of the Navigator, and walks up to the front door of his new home. His things could wait. He wanted to spend some time with his new family. Once he reaches the stoop, she wraps her arms around him and hugs him tightly. “How’re you feeling?” She asks, as they walk inside.

“Scared. Nervous.  A little depressed.  But overall glad to be out of there.” Kurt says honestly and for once he no longer is worried about what is going to happen later that day when he returns home, because he is home now. He would never have to return to that hell hole again.

“Come on in.  Breakfast is waiting.” When they walked into the kitchen, they saw Martin and Blaine sitting at the breakfast table.  Blaine had been told he could stay home today, to help Kurt get settled in. He was thankful for that, because he knew his best friend was going to need all the support he could give him today. When Blaine sees Kurt, he immediately gets up and pulls Kurt into the same tight embrace his mother had done just moments before.

“Hey, how’d it go?” He asked and Kurt took a deep breath.

“I left my Dad a letter.  Telling him why I was leaving.  I half expect a phone call demanding what kind of joke this is.” He attempted humor, but it fell on deaf ears.  The three people in front of him knew how much this wasn’t a joke, and he was grateful for it.

“Did you say where you were going to be?”  Martin asked, and he shook his head.

“No, I just told him that I had been living in a fairy tale for the past six months and it was time for my happy ending.” Julia smiled warmly at this. She loved Kurt, as much as she loved her own sons and it killed her to know that someone had been abusing his kind generosity.

“Do you think he’ll come and look for you?” Blaine asks and Kurt shrugs his shoulders, not really knowing.

“Probably, maybe, I don’t know.  He’ll probably start with the New Directions, first.  Though why he would do that when Finn could easily find out for him, I don’t know.” They all sat for a moment and contemplated this, when Martin spoke up this time.

“What do you think Carole will say?” Kurt chuckles darkly.

“Oh she’s either devastated that she lost her slave, or ecstatic that she finally chased me out of the house.  I honestly have no clue.”

Afterwards, they talk about lighter subjects, not wanting to bring down the mood of the house too much for one day. But all three Anderson’s could tell that Kurt was putting on a brave face. He may be safe now, but he was still hurting.

Kurt and Blaine walked up to Kurt’s new bedroom after grabbing a few of Kurt’s things out of the Navigator and right as Kurt and Blaine both put their boxes down and sat on the bed, Blaine spoke.

“Okay, let go.”

“What?” Kurt asks, looking up at Blaine. Blaine sighs, and wraps his arm around Kurt’s shoulder.

“I can see that you’re about to fall apart on me and the fact that we were with my parents is the only reason you kept it together. But it’s just us now. Let go.” Kurt had been trying so hard to not let the waterworks spill.  He had been trying for so long…not just the past 30 minutes, but the past 6 months. He couldn’t show weakness in front of Carole, because she’d use it to her advantage. But here, with Blaine he knew he was safe. He knew no weakness of his would be exploited, and that thought allowed him to let go.

“How could this happen?  She was supposed to be kind, nice and warm.  Instead she was ruthless and abusive.  And my dad….” Kurt hiccupped, and wiped the tears that were already making their way down his face. “He always said he’d protect me from anyone who wished me harm, but he didn’t protect me from her.” Kurt ducked his face into Blaine’s neck, and Blaine pulled him in tighter. They stayed like that for about 5 minutes, until Kurt’s sobs and sniffles calmed down. Once they did, Blaine spoke.

“What do you mean, abusive?” Kurt looks up at him, alarm written all over his face. “Kurt?” Kurt gulped, not wanting to admit what really happened between him and Carole.

“The few times we had an argument where we were completely alone, she’d hurt me if I said anything that displeased her.”

Blaine didn’t look happy.  He looked back through all the time that he had come to know Kurt when suddenly something popped into his head. “That day you came to school limping?

Kurt swallowed the lump that had been rising in his throat. “We had been arguing.  I told her I wasn’t going to hand wash her _delicate_ laundry. She wasn’t happy about that. She punched me in the chest and I fell on the ground.  She kept kicking my legs until my foot was swollen.  She knew enough to bypass any vital organs.” Kurt said clinically.  It was the only way to talk about it without becoming overwhelmed with emotions.

“Oh Kurt…” Blaine hugged him tighter, bringing both arms around him and letting Kurt take comfort in his embrace. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

Kurt looked at him incredulously, and scoffed a moment later. “Who besides you would have believed me?”

“Don’t worry.  You’re safe now.” Blaine’s arms stay wrapped around Kurt’s body as Kurt continues to sob quietly into Blaine’s neck.  Blaine had to take a deep breath to keep from breaking down himself, he needed to be strong for Kurt. He needed to be strong for his best friend. It’s what good best friend’s do, right? But last he checked, good best friend’s done kiss their friend’s hair when they’re upset. But it didn’t matter to him, he did it anyway.

 

* * *

It was four days later, and Burt was at his wits end. He hadn’t seen his son since the night before Kurt’s birthday, and he had no clue if Kurt was alive, where he was, or if he was safe. He had tried contacting all of Kurt’s friends in the New Directions, but they knew nothing.  He was currently standing in front of the entire club at a glee club meeting, hoping to get them to give him a hint as to where he might go.

“Dude, why don’t you try calling him?” Puck asked, as if it hadn’t done it at least 75 times. Burt rolled his eyes.

“Thank you for the tip, Puck.  I’ve tried that, and he doesn’t answer the phone.” Mercedes laughed.

“I’ll try.  He should pick up if I’m the one calling.” She calls, and listens as the phone rings. She is just about to give up hope that Kurt would answer, when he picks up. “Kurt! Hey, where are you?” She asks, smacking herself internally for being so blatantly obvious about why she was calling.  Burt on the other hand was practically biting his nails, even though she had contacted his son, he still didn’t know anything about his well being.

“I’m at Warbler’s practice… why?” Kurt asked skeptically, and Mercedes decided to lay it all on the line.

“Finn said you ran away from home.” She said, and Kurt groaned.

“Oh for the love of God.  Running away implies I did it on impulse.  The fact that I moved all my stuff out should clue him in that I moved, not ran away.” Kurt told her, and she accepted this for what it was, before moving on to her next question.

“Where are you staying?”

“With a friend.” He answers, not wanting to give any specifics.

“Oh give me that.” Kurt can hear his father in the background of Mercedes’ phone, and his breath starts to go rapid. A moment later he’s on the phone. “Kurt?”

“Dad?” Kurt asks, even though he knows full well that it is his father on the other end of the phone.

“Kurt, where are you?  Please come home.” Burt begged his son, desperate for his son to talk to him. But Kurt didn’t say anything else, he simply hung up the phone, and Burt let out an impassioned cry. “He hung up…”

“Do you blame him?  He ran away from you and you just barge onto someone else’s phone and attempt to shanghai him into talking to you?” She asks, taking her phone back from the man who had stolen it away from her. “Way to go by the way. You just ensured he won’t take calls from any of us now.  Way to think ahead.” Burt groaned, knowing that Mercedes was right.

* * *

“What was that about Kurt?” Wes asked, once Kurt hung up the phone. Blaine who had been sitting next  to him, placed a hand on his leg, letting him know that he was there if he needed to talk.

“Nothing.”

“You just hung up on your dad.  I’d be afraid of getting my ass kicked when I got home later after doing that.”

David joked, and Kurt took a deep breath before saying, “Well then I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have to worry about that anymore, huh?” He stood and walked out of the room, Blaine hot on his heels. They could both hears the Warblers discussing what Kurt had just said in hushed whispers, but neither really cared all that much about that.

“Hey, wait up.” Blaine asked, running after Kurt who was storming off in no particular direction trying to clear his head.

“Why would she help him?” Kurt asked spontaneously, and Blaine looked at him, with wondering eyes.

“Who?”

“Mercedes.  She called trying to find out where I’m living, for my Dad.  He grabbed the phone from her hands and then I…” Kurt said, stopping in the middle of the hallway.  Blaine saw the look on Kurt’s face and it was clear that he was about to break down again. Kurt hadn’t broken down since the first day he had moved in, but Blaine was expecting another at any moment, and it seems that this was it.

“Hey, it’s okay.  At least this means he’s actively looking for you.  It means he cares, right?” Kurt shrugged.

“What if he doesn’t? What if he just wants to yell at me?” Blaine shook his head. It was a possibility, but it was also a possibility that he wouldn’t let happen.

“I won’t let him.  Neither will Mom and Dad. We’ll make sure he keeps his distance.” Blaine promises him, and Kurt looks at the floor, and then back at the Warbler’s practice room.

“They’re going to wonder…” Kurt utters and Blaine shrugs his shoulders.

“Do you want to tell them?” He asks and Kurt shook his head.

“I don’t know if I can.” He admits honestly. He doesn’t know if he can tell the Warblers what happened at home. They knew a little bit, but they didn’t know that he had moved out, or precisely how bad it had gotten.  Only Blaine knew that detail.

“Do you want to tell them together?” Blaine asks, and Kurt considers the concept, before nodding his head.

“I think I can do that.” Blaine offers Kurt his hand, and he takes it. 

“Then let’s go in.” Together they walk back into the Warbler practice room, to expectant eyes, and the uneasy silence of curiosity.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Wes asks the two of them, concern for two of his friends evident in his facial expressions.  Kurt shakes his head.

“Not really, but at the same time… yea.”

“Want me to start?” Blaine asks, and Kurt nods.  He doesn’t know where to start, there’s just so much and not all of it needs to be said. “Okay so you all know about how Kurt’s stepmother hasn’t been treating him very well since his father married her?” One by one, each Warbler nodded his head and even Trent spoke up.

“Of course we do.”

“It got to the point where it was too much for him to take.” Blaine explained, Kurt then added

“It was never going to end.  She was never going to stop.”

“A few weeks ago my parents offered Kurt a place to live if he ever wanted to get out of his house.  So for the past few days, he’s been living with me.” Blaine admitted, and everyone’s face went from one of concern to shock.

“Oh my gosh, Kurt I’m so sorry.” Wes said, getting up from his seat at the Council table, and walking over towards his friend, to see if he’s okay.

Kurt smiled. “Thanks, but I don’t want pity.  I just want things to get back to normal.” Wes nodded, and turned around and returned to his seat. Everyone sat there quite for a minute, unsure of what to do until David spoke up.

“You heard him boys.  Now where were we?  Oh yea…. Blue ties with red piping, or red ties with blue piping?” Kurt chuckled to himself. He knew could always count on these boys to make him laugh when he needed to. That’s one of the reasons why he was going to miss Dalton next year, when he had to leave. Because there was no way that he was going to be able to pay the tuition next year, and he couldn’t ask the Anderson’s to do it for him.

* * *

 

Kurt hoped that the next day would go remarkably less eventful.  He was disappointed.  During eighth period, his French teacher picked up the phone in the middle of the classroom that let all the teachers communicate with one another from classroom to classroom, and when she hung up, she walked over towards him and told him that the Guidance Counselor would like to see him.

Kurt groaned, not wanting to go face her. He could probably guess what she wanted to talk about, but how she found out he has no idea.  Perhaps one of the Warblers let it slip, and she wanted to see if he was okay? Perhaps she wanted to make sure that he had a place to stay.  He wasn’t positive about anything, but the one thing he was not expecting, was to see his father sitting in one of the seats in front of her when he walked into the office.

“What are you doing here?” Kurt asks his father, as he stands still in the doorway. Burt quickly stands and turns around, looking at his son.  The son he hadn’t seen in days, the son who practically disowned him. Burt hated that he hadn’t seen his son, and he wanted to fix things between them.

“Kurt…” He said, relief evident in his voice.

“What is he doing here?” Kurt asked again, this time directing the question at his guidance counselor, who bit her lip before speaking.

“He told me that you ran away from home.”

“I didn’t run away!  I moved out!” Kurt insisted. Had he just grabbed a bag of clothes and started running down the street at 4 in the morning, with no clue of what he was going to do, that would have been running away.  But what he did? Was carefully calculated and planned.  It wasn’t running away, it was moving out.

“Why Kurt?” Burt asked, wanting to know why.

“Because I hated living there.  I’d rather live in a park bench than stay in that home one more day.” He knew saying that would be like a knife to the gut of his father, but to be honest he didn’t care. His father hadn’t cared about his well being, why should he care about his father’s?

“You don’t mean that.” Kurt nods.

“Like hell I don’t.  As long as Carole and Finn still live at that home, I refuse to return, even for a day.” Kurt stares at his father, refusing to back down.

“What’s going on, Kurt?  I know we discussed this a little bit, but what happened to prompt you to run away from home?” Mrs. Johnson asked once again. Kurt groaned.

“For god’s sake I’m 18 years old.  I can move out if I want to.” He screeched.  Had he gone any higher he would have broken glass.

“There’s no denying that.  My question remains the same however.  Why?” Burt nods his head emphatically.

“Mine too.”

“I’d rather not say.” Kurt says, biting his lip.

“Kurt…” Burt says, with a longing in his voice.  A longing for his son to be his son again. A longing that tells Kurt that he may want his son home, but he doesn’t truly know how to achieve what he wants.

“You ignored everything.  You ignored all the signs, all the hints that something wasn’t right.  Why Dad?  Do you just love her more than you love me?” Burt looked shocked.

“Of course not.”

“Then why would you turn a blind eye when you knew she was hurting me?”


	3. Chapter 3

There was silence in the Guidance Office for a moment, as Kurt watched both Mrs. Johnson and his father fully grasp what he had just told them.  He hadn’t meant to say it, it just slipped out.  He never wanted to tell anyone, besides Blaine that is, about what Carole had done. Sure he hated Carole, but he wasn’t going to play the role of a victim.  He had played that role for far too long at McKinley, and finally he’s standing up this time.  He didn’t want to get justice, or revenge.  He just wanted to get her out of his life, and with his current situation, he did just that.

“What do you mean she hurt you, Kurt?  I know Carole treated you unfairly but…” Burt sputtered out, trying to process the information he had just received. It didn’t seem like he believed his son’s accusations. How could he? His wife, hurting his son after they sent him to private school because he was physically abused by a bully and threatened with death?  That was too much to take.

“She never did it while you or Finn were around…” Kurt said, trailing off at the end. Suddenly regretting that he had let those words slip from his mouth. He never wanted to have this conversation, partly because of the awkwardness it would create, and partly because he avoided real confrontation like the plague.  Get into a petty argument over which model on _America’s Next Top Model_ deserved to be kicked out and he would fight all day long.  But about anything real?  He hated it; he detested it and never wanted to participate in a confrontation of that magnitude.

“This is a serious accusation, Kurt.” Mrs. Johnson said, and Kurt turned to glare at her.

“You don’t believe me either?” He asked with disbelief, and she shook her head.

“I didn’t say that.” Kurt relaxed a tiny bit, but he was still on edge. He knew no one was going to believe him, why was he getting worked up when two people he was supposed to trust didn’t?  “But before we throw accusations around like that, can you tell us what she did?”

He bit his lip and looked down at the floor. “Kurt?” Burt asked, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder. Kurt shook it off.

“She’d hit me.” He said flatly.

“Where?” Burt asked, and Kurt chuckled.

“Face… head…arms... anywhere really. “ Burt’s face was unreadable, and Kurt didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. He had always been able to read his father’s expressions, especially when he was younger and possibly in trouble.  But right now he couldn’t get a read on him, and it frightened him.

“I can’t believe this.” Kurt stared at his father for a full minute, before he began to unbutton his Dalton blazer. A few seconds later he was unbuttoning the cuffs of his dress shirt, and rolling up the sleeve on his left arm. Neither the woman sitting before them, nor Burt knew why he was doing this, but a moment later it was perfectly clear, when they saw a yellow mark marring the beautiful pale skin of Kurt’s shoulder.

“This was from about a month ago.  It’s fading, but it’s still there.” He said his voice barely above a whisper. He hadn’t wanted to show anyone the bruises on his body, but he also didn’t want anyone thinking he was a liar either.  But when Burt saw the bruise on his shoulder…. Kurt knew that at least he had gotten through to his father.

There was the readable Burt Hummel that Kurt had always known and love. It was clear from his father’s face that he was outraged that someone had hurt his son. Whether Burt believed it was Carole or not, remained to be seen.

“Kurt, I’m so sorry, that I didn’t notice any of this sooner.” Burt’s face fell into his hands, unable to grasp what he was learning. He knew his son had been suffering in his own home, but he didn’t know it was anything like this. This he would have stopped, had he known.

“Sorry isn’t going to cut it, Dad.” Kurt says simply, and both adults in the room turn to look at him.

“Kurt…” His guidance counselor admonishes him, but Kurt shakes his head.

“No.  Even if he didn’t know about her hurting me, he still should have noticed that something was wrong.” Kurt said adamantly. He turned his head to look at his father, his face slightly warmer than it had been for the entire meeting. “Let me be clear about something.  I love _you_ , Dad.  I will always love you.  I’ve missed you for these past few days, but if you think an apology will get me to move back into that house, you’re delusional.” Burt nods, understanding why Kurt wouldn’t want to move back into a home that hurt him for so long.

“What do I have to do, Kurt?” Kurt never thought he’d hear his father sound weak. Other than his father’s first few words after he came out of his coma, he’d always been so strong, and determined.

Kurt stands up, rolls down his sleeve and puts his blazer back on. “If you really care about me, and my wellbeing.  You’ll figure it out yourself.” With that, he leaves the two adults in the room alone, and makes his way back to class.

* * *

As Kurt made his way out of the guidance office and down the hall, he saw Blaine coming out of the class they had together just before. Blaine ran up to meet with Kurt and saw the distressed look on Kurt’s face.  Luckily it was the end of the school day, so there wasn’t anything else the two of them had to do.

“Hey, are you okay?  Why did Mrs. Johnson want to see you?” He asked and Kurt took a deep breath.

“Dad came to visit Dalton. “ He said succinctly, while looking down at the ground mostly at his and Blaine’s shoes.

“And?”

“I told him and Mrs. Johnson about what Carole did.  I’m just not sure either of them believes me.” He confessed, and Blaine pulled him into a hug. He had gotten to know Kurt really well over the past 6 months, and he could tell when Kurt needed physical comfort or just verbal, this was a time for physical.

“I’m sure he does.  Any caring father would.” Blaine said, and Kurt sighed into Blaine’s shoulder.

“I guess.”

They break apart and start walking down the corridor. Teenage boys were running around, trying to get all their books together so they could go home and escape the school day. They look at each other.

“You ready to go home?”

“Yea, let’s go.”

* * *

Driving home wasn’t an easy feat. Burt was shaking with rage after learning what he did at Dalton Academy.  When Kurt had been a baby, he had sworn to always protect him.  To love him, and keep him safe from harm.  But he hadn’t been able to do that. He looked into the same blue eyes he did 18 years ago and saw the same vulnerability from when he was a baby, shone through today. He couldn’t stand the fact that he let this happen to his son, his baby.  His pride and joy.

He pulled over onto the side of the road a couple of times because he ended up shaking too much from anger. It ended up taking him twice as long as it would usually take to get from Dalton to Lima, but once he pulled into his driveway, he jumped out of the car, swung the front door open and bellowed.

“CAROLE!”

“What?” She said, coming out of the kitchen, where she had been warming herself something to eat. He stormed over to her, glared down at her until she had to crane her neck backwards to be able to see his full face.

“What did you do to my son?” He asked steadily, giving her a chance to come clean.  He knew it was a long shot that she would actually confess to anything, she hadn’t confessed to anything so far why start now?

“I didn’t do anything to your son.” The scoff that surrounded the word son sent Burt’s anger skyrocketing towards the sky.

“You mean you didn’t smack him around when no one else was home?  You didn’t leave a mark on his shoulder that’s lasted four fucking weeks?” He asked menacingly, and Carole shook her head.

“Did he tell you that?  The little liar.” Burt’s face contorted in fury and rage.

“I saw the bruise!”

“I bet you did.” She said, rubbing his arm in attempt to soothe his outburst of emotions.  “But do you honestly believe that I would hit him? Or that anything I did would leave a lasting mark like that?” She asked, and for a split second, he had to agree with her.  Kurt was taller and stronger than Carole, especially with all the manual labor she put him through. She wouldn’t be able to hurt him without Kurt actively letting her.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore, Carole.  But I know my son won’t be returning home until he feels safe, and he won’t feel safe with you around.” Carole stepped back from her husband, unsure of what he was trying to say.

“So what are you going to do?” She asked, looking up at him anxiously.

“I don’ know yet. But either way, you’re probably not going to like it.” Burt said matter of factly, and then left the hallway they were currently standing in, to contemplate his next actions. There were a few options he had in this situation, but he had to consider them all carefully, because any way he looked at it, someone’ s life would be changed forever because of it.

* * *

The same day that Burt went to talk to Kurt at Dalton, was the day that Mercedes, Finn and the rest of the New Directions were concerned over Kurt and his behavior. Well The New Directions were concerned, Finn wasn’t really all that concerned about his brother.

“He still won’t accept any of my calls.” Mercedes said to the group at large and Rachel nodded.

“Nor mine!  I even left a message, offering to let him give me a complete makeover and nothing. It’s starting to worry me.” Finn rolled his eyes at their eagerness to find out what Kurt’s problem was.  Finn gave up on that a while ago and he wasn’t going to rehash that now, just because Kurt decided to run away from home.

“I wonder what his problem is.” Puck wondered aloud and Finn scoffed.

“He hates my mom and doesn’t give a shit about our family.  That’s his problem.  Ever since he left, Mom and Burt fight constantly.  It sucks; he doesn’t care about the family, so why are we caring about him?” Everyone looked at Finn sharply for that comment, they all loved Kurt and didn’t like that he was obviously going through something that they weren’t privy to.

“There’s gotta be a reason why he left home, though.” Mercedes tries to reason with her friend, but Finn shrugged it off.

“He thought he was being treated unfairly. Boohoo.”

“What do you mean, Finn?” Quinn, Finn’s latest girlfriend asked, sitting beside him.

“He was complaining about the amount of chores he had to do. Big whoop.” Finn said bitterly.

“Like what?” Artie asked, and Finn huffed.

“I don’t know… Wash the dishes, vacuum, dust, laundry, clean the gutters, mow the lawn, weed the gardens…”

Everyone was shocked that he had so much to do at home, and after a moment Tina spoke up. “And what chores did you do, Finn?”  Finn looked up at her and saw her piercing look, as if she already knew the truth.

“Well… I uh… I helped with the dishes some…” He said lamely, and everyone’s mouths dropped simultaneously.

“THAT’S IT?” They all shouted the force of which nearly knocked Finn off his seat.

“That’s despicable, Finn.” Rachel said, disgusted at the object of her misplaced affection.

“You let him do all of that himself, and never bothered to help your brother?” Quinn said, getting up from where she was seated and standing next to Rachel, with whom she for once, agrees.

“That’s low, dude.” Puck says from behind Finn.

“I’m in a wheelchair, physically incapable of doing some of those things, and I do more than you do.” Artie berated him, and Finn sunk lower into his chair.

“How could you do that to him?  He’s your brother.” Mercedes shouted at him and Finn threw his hands up to fend off the attacks he thought was likely to come.

“You know what?  I’m sick of this.  He’s the one that ran away from home.  He’s the one that ran away and doesn’t want to live with me Mom, and Burt.  As far as I’m concerned, he’s not my brother anymore.” Finn says, standing up attempting to leave the room.  When he gets to the door, McKinley’s small guidance counselor is there to stop him.

“Finn, May I talk to you in my office, for a few minutes?”

* * *

When the two boys got home that afternoon, they found Julia sitting in the living room, watching one of her soap operas. She was usually a workaholic at the hospital she works at, but when she found out that Kurt would be moving in with them, she rearranged her schedule so she’d be home when they got home, in case something happened, she’d be there to support him and Blaine if necessary. Kurt had felt honored when he learned this, because he had never had anyone rearrange their work schedule to accommodate him before. His father hadn’t even done that after his mother died, instead Burt had Kurt stay at the shop every day after school from the time Elizabeth died, to the time Burt felt Kurt was old enough to stay home alone.

“How was school, boys?” She asked, and Kurt shrugged as Blaine dropped his bag on the side of the couch and plopped down onto it. Julia looked at him disapprovingly, but said nothing.

“Exhausting.  If it’s alright with you, I’m just going to go upstairs and lay down.” She nods, and watches as Kurt leaves the living room, she then turns her attention to Blaine.

“What happened?” Blaine sighed.

“Burt showed up in the guidance office today.” Blaine had never heard his mother cuss before, but he thought he heard her swear under her breath when she heard that piece of news.

“How did that go?” Blaine shrugged his shoulders, because really he didn’t know.

“I don’t’ know much.  Kurt just said that he came to see him, no specifics.”  Julia hung her head and took a deep breath.

“I hope he is okay.” Ever since he was a baby, Julia had been able to determine Blaine’s moods just by looking at his face. She could tell when he was gassy as a baby and needed to be burped, she was able to tell when he was antsy, and needed to exert some energy at playtime. But right now, she’s seeing a side of her son that she rarely sees. Overwhelming concern for someone else.  That’s not to say that Blaine is never concerned about other people, but it’s a rarity that he lets it show all too often. “What’s wrong sweetie?”

“He’s already been through so much… I hate that he keeps going through it.”

“I know, but we’ve done all we can to help him. He’s out of that house now, and he doesn’t have to go back. The only thing we can do now is wait to see if Burt and Carole try to fix things, and step in if it feels as if they’re going to make things worse.”

“I know I just worry about him.”

“I know.  So do I.”

* * *

Blaine had left his mother in the living room a little while later and walked upstairs to Kurt’s bedroom.  He knocked on the door that was slightly ajar. He didn’t hear a response, so he pushed it open slightly. He saw Kurt curled up on the bed, and when he sat down on the bed next to Kurt, he saw Kurt quickly wipe his eyes. It hurt him to know that Kurt was crying, but there was nothing he could do to stop the crying.  Not when it had to do with Burt and Kurt’s evil stepmother.

“Kurt, you okay?” He asks, placing a hand delicately on his friend’s shoulder.

“Fine” He sniffs and Blaine can see the tears running down his face, even though Kurt had just tried to wipe them all away.

“You don’t sound fine.” Blaine said in a light tone, trying to cheer his friend up.

“Long day.” He sighed and turned to face his friend.

“I bet. Wanna talk about what happened with your Dad?” He shook his head no, but apparently no one told his brain that, because he started speaking again. “I don’t know if he believes me or no, and if he does I have no clue what he’s going to do.” Kurt sighed, and Blaine pushed on Kurt’s shoulder a little, signaling he should move over on the bed so that Blaine could get on.

“Well, think of it this way. If he doesn’t believe you, then there’s no point in worrying about it, because he’s not going to try and fix anything and you won’t have to deal with him, or her anymore.” He says, and Kurt raises an eyebrow, as if that’s really what he wants. “Or…” Blaine says as if reading Kurt’s thoughts. “…if he does believe you, he’ll have to confront her about it, won’t he?  He’ll have to find a way to come to terms with the fact that his wife hurt his son, and I don’t think many men could actually do that and still stay with that wife.”

“I guess… maybe.”

“Don’t worry about it, Kurt.  You’ve spent too long worrying about it.”

“Thanks.” Kurt took a deep breath and curled up in the bed like he had before, but this time he was cuddled against Blaine’s side. Neither of them said anything.  Kurt needed comfort, and Blaine could offer it.  So that’s what they were doing. It wasn’t until Kurt’s breathing leveled off indicating he had fallen asleep, that Blaine realized that even if Kurt and Burt could patch up their relationship, he didn’t want Kurt to leave.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma talks to Finn, Burt and Carole discuss the accusations one more time, and Blaine does something he probably shouldn't have, but does anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Blaine kinda ran away from me in this chapter. Next chapter I'm going to have to kick his scrawny butt back into his rightful place, because he was *not* supposed to do what he did... I don't know how he showed up there. Stupid characters... they do what they want, with no heed to plot or what the author wants them to do?

Emma Pillsbury had brought Finn into her office after getting a rather interesting call from a Cynthia Johnson; Guidance counselor over at Dalton Academy for Boys in Westerville. The two of them had stayed on the phone for 45 minutes, discussing what had happened when Kurt came to the meeting with her and his father. Emma was surprised to find out that Carole had been abusive, having met the woman on more than one occasion. So after the two got off the phone, she knew the first thing she had to do was talk to Finn. Had to find out if he feels that his mother did anything wrong, to him as well as to Kurt.

"What do you mean 'Did my mom ever hit me?' Of course the answer is no!" Finn shouted, not understanding why Miss Pillsbury was asking such a question.

"Finn, we just need to make sure. After everything that's gone on with your brother…" Emma trailed off and Finn groaned.

"I have no brother." Finn said adamantly and if Emma was shocked at the admission, she didn't outwardly show it.

"Finn…" She tried to get him to calm down.

"I don't. I have a step-brother who seems to think he's better than everyone else, but I have no actual brother." She sighed; at least she understood where his animosity was coming from.

"Fine, after everything that's going on with Kurt; we just want to make sure that you have a stable home life." Emma reasoned, and Finn rolled his eyes.

"My mom doesn't do anything to me. She's never laid a hand on me, ever."

"She doesn't even hug you?"

"Occasionally, but not really." Finn admits, not understanding why Emma was asking such questions.

"Finn, neglect is a type of mistreatment as well." Emma tells him, and Finn is seriously outraged.

"She doesn't neglect me!" He yells at her. "She pays attention to me, she yells when I get bad grades, she gives me my allowance… we just aren't that big on physical displays of affection. She doesn't hug or kiss me; I don't hug or kiss her. It's a system that works for us." He tells her, and she sighs.

"If you're sure about that…"

"I am." He insists, and even though she isn't confident in it, there's nothing more she can do.

* * *

Later that night, Burt is sitting on the couch in the living room, watching some sports game. Had anyone come in and asked him what the score was, he wouldn't be able to tell you because his mind was on other things. On whether or not Kurt was safe. On whether or not Kurt would ever come back home. Whether or not he and Carole would be able to work things out. He hated feeling conflicted. Carole says that she's never hit Kurt. Kurt says that she has. He wants to believe both of them, but they can't both be telling him the truth. He wishes it were that easy.

"Burt, can we talk?" Carole says entering the living room, sitting down on the recliner a little ways away from her husband. Burt took a deep breath, unsure if he wanted to talk to his wife. She had said something pretty mean things about his son in the past few days, and finding out what he did earlier today…. Well let's just say if he weren't an honorable moral man, he'd probably have inflicted the same abuse onto her that she did to Kurt.

"Sure, Carole." He says carefully, his tone a warning.

"I know that you think I'm an awful person right now…"

He sighs. "I don't know what I think. Kurt claims that you kept hitting him, you deny it. I want to believe you both, but I can't." He tells her, and she nods.

"You're supposed to trust me, Burt. Trust that I would never lie to you." She looks into his eyes, and he can see into hers. He can see the fear and doubt in hers. He's always seen love and kindness in her eyes, but it was only today that it changed.

"For a while there, I did. But I also know that until you came into the picture, Kurt had never lied to me before. He would try to hide the truth from me occasionally, but when asked a direct question, he would give a direct and honest answer back." Burt told her and she huffs.

"So you're just going to believe your son who has been lying to you repeatedly over the past six months, than your own wife?" Burt shrugs.

"The only reason my son has been lying to me, was because of you. Had you not come down on him so hard, and given him so much shit to do around this house, he never would have felt the need to hide from me how miserable he was." Burt reasoned, and Carole was starting to get angry.

"So now it's my fault that he wasn't happy?"

"I think that's obvious."

"So what are you going to do now? Kick me out, kick Finn out? The two people who actually have stuck by you and didn't run away?" Burt stood up and tossed the remote control at her.

"No. But I do know what I'm going to do."

* * *

There was quiet around the dinner table that night. Julia and Martin didn't know what to say, Blaine wasn't sure if he should say anything, and Kurt just didn't want to speak at all. No one could blame him. The day he had wasn't exactly the best, and having his father show up out of the blue at Dalton was sure to set him back in his emotional and mental recovery.

About halfway through dinner, Kurt noticed how silent it really was at the table. He looked across it and saw Blaine who quickly looked down at his plate, as if he'd been caught staring, which he probably was. Kurt looked to the right and saw Martin having an intense non-verbal conversation with Julia and it bothered him. This was their house, yet they were walking on eggshells around him. He had no right to make them do that. He was a guest in their home, a somewhat permanent guest seeking refuge, but a guest nonetheless.

He leaned his fork up against his plate, and wiped his mouth with a napkin before he spoke. "I don't want you guys acting like this." He says to the three of them, all of their heads simultaneously whipping to look at him. "I don't want you being afraid to speak, because you think I might break at any moment."

"Kurt, no. That's not why –" Julia tries to tell him, but Kurt shakes his head.

"Then why have none of you spoken since we sat down for dinner?" He challenged her, and then turned to look at Blaine and Martin. They all looked sheepish, but Blaine spoke up.

"We just didn't know if you wanted to talk about what happened today."

"I don't." Kurt said, and Blaine gave him a pointed look. "But that doesn't mean you can't talk about your days." They all nod and slowly but surely they start to talk. Martin talks about one of his clients who doesn't understand that she signed a pre-nuptial agreement and is trying to get more money out of the husband she's divorcing. One of Julia's patients officially went into remission today, which she was incredibly fortunate for.

"Well, Mrs. Feldman assigned about 300 math problems today, due by Monday." Kurt snorted. He was lucky to have Mr. Walsh instead of Feldman for Trigonometry. When Kurt initially transferred, he had tried to get into Blaine's Trig class, but Blaine begged him not to. Mrs. Feldman was the hardest teacher at Dalton, and Blaine definitely didn't want Kurt to have to go through any of that when he was just starting out.

"Walsh didn't give us anything to do over the weekend. Have I thanked you lately for convincing me not to switched classes when I first transferred?" Kurt snickers and Blaine rolls his eyes at his best friend while his parents chuckle under their breaths. "But I do have to conjugate about 15 irregular French verbs over the weekend, and she's making us handwrite them 5 times each so that we can retain them better." Kurt groans. "I don't see why I have to do this. I'm fluent in French. The only reason I took French instead of another language was so that I'd have one easy class while I got adjusted."

"Smart." Martin commented. "If you don't mind, how did you become so fluent in French?" Kurt shook his head.

"I don't mind. And my mother. She was actually a French native, who came to the USA her senior year of high school on a foreign exchange program. She met my father, and they fell in love." Kurt said enthusiastically. "So in love that I was conceived a few weeks after they both graduated. She decided to stay here with Dad, and out came me."

All three Anderson's were looking at Kurt weirdly, well weirdly to Kurt anyway. They all had the same expression on their face, and it started to make him feel a little weird. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"It's nothing, Kurt." Julia said, looking away from Kurt and down at her plate.

"It's just that…. We haven't seen you smile in a long time." Martin told him. Kurt looked to Blaine, who just smiled at him and then nodded his head.

"I didn't know how much I'd miss seeing you smile until you didn't, anymore." Blaine told him, which made Kurt smile even brighter.

* * *

When Finn walked into the Choir Room for a Saturday rehearsal, he had felt a chill in the air. He had never felt such a chill before walking into any room anywhere, and he knew it wasn't from the temperature of the room, considering the school at large didn't have air conditioning, and it was 80 degrees out that day. The room was full of noise, Mercedes, Tina and Rachel quietly talking to themselves, while Puck, Quinn, Artie and Santana were also talking in a corner of the room. Mike and Brittany were in the middle of the room, trying their hardest to get Sam to understand the choreography for their Regionals numbers. But the moment he walked in, everyone stopped talking and doing whatever it was they were doing, and just stared at him.

He didn't like it. He didn't like that his friends were angry at him, for no reason. He didn't like that they were taking Kurt's side over his, when Kurt was so selfish as to run away when no one was around to see him go. Finn walked past Brittany, Mike, and Sam who were in the middle of the room to go sit in his normal seat, but as he did so, he could feel the gazes of 10 people on his back. It made him shiver. They kept glaring at him, even after he sat down. "What?" He asked the room at large. A few of them quickly looked away, but Puck, Santana, Mercedes and his two girlfriends (past and present) just scoffed at him. "What your problem?"

"Dude, we should be asking you the same thing." Puck said, walking down the risers and coming to face Finn. "What you've done to Kurt, is horrible."

"I've done nothing to him."

"You helped your moment abuse his kind nature, Finn. You sat back and watched as Kurt did everything you should have been doing as part of your family." Quinn told him, walking down to stand next to Puck.

"If I was supposed to do anything, Mom would have told me to." Finn insisted.

"It's not about what your Mom did or didn't right now. It's about what you didn't do, Finn. You didn't help him; you didn't care about his wellbeing or his happiness. You simply watched it happen and took advantage of it." Mercedes shouted.

"I know Kurt and I have had our differences in the past, but if he were my brother, I would never allow something like this to happen. He doesn't deserve it, Finn. He has feelings, just like the rest of us." Rachel said, before Santana cut in.

"More than most of us actually, and you ignored that for your own selfish gain." Her face overflowing with dismay.

"I get that you guys think I'm a horrible person. But I'm really not. Kurt never gave any clue that he wasn't happy. He never said or did anything that would suggest anything but that he was happy doing all those chores." Finn insisted, and Puck was about to retort when a voice from the door beat him to it.

"That's not true Finn, and you know it." Puck, Santana, Rachel and Mercedes who had all been standing in front of Finn giving him the third degree turned around and parted, allowing Finn to see Blaine standing in the doorway to the McKinley's Choir room.

"What are you doing here, Blaine?" Finn asked darkly.

"I came to talk to you all. I know that you are all worried about Kurt, if the 75 messages you all have left on his cell phone in the past 48 hours are any indication."

"How do you know about that, dude?" Puck asked, and Blaine smirked.

"He told me directly. Complained that his former friends in the New Directions couldn't take a hint." All their faces fell at that moment.

"He doesn't consider us his friends anymore?" Rachel asked, horrified at the thought.

"Why would he? You were in cahoots with his father." Blaine reasoned.

"We just wanted to make sure he was okay. For all we knew he was sleeping on a street bench somewhere."

"Okay first of all, he owns his Navigator outright, so if he was going to sleep anywhere, it'd be in there." Blaine told them, as if he were talking to a bunch of 3rd graders. "Second of all, do you really think Kurt would move out if he didn't already have a place to stay somewhere else?"

"He's with you, isn't he?" Mercedes asked, fearful of the answer. When Blaine nodded, she said nothing.

"My parents offered him a place to stay if he ever needed it. He took them up on it."

"So he's living with you? Good to know, Burt'll be glad to hear it." Finn said, smirking.

"Does Kurt know you're here, Dude?" Mike asked, and Blaine shook his head.

"He was sleeping when I woke up. I knew he would have yelled at me for even attempting to come here, but I felt it was necessary to tell you all what horrible friends I think you've been to him."

"We thought he was in danger!" Santana insisted and Blaine shook his head.

"Doesn't matter. Think of it from his perspective. According to you, Finn Kurt ran away from home. Which he didn't by the way, he moved out. Eighteen year olds can do that without being classified as a runaway. But even if he did run away from home, why would he do that, something that is very dangerous for a teen, let alone a gay teenage boy like Kurt, unless something drove him to do it?"

"Well, I mean. Kurt's always been a tad bit overdramatic…" Sam said, and some of the others nodded along.

"He may emote more than is particularly necessary, but everything he complains about, everything he brags about and everything he does or doesn't do has value. There's no reason to believe that he'd do something so stupid as to run away from home, without a reason, and well thought out plan of attack."

"Did you just come here to berate us Blaine?" Rachel asked, annoyed at the slightly taller boy in front of her.

"No. I came here to tell you all to stop calling him. It's hurting him more than you can possibly imagine. He's stopped listening to your voicemails and has deleted your texts on sight without reading them because for that first day, his eyes would swell up with tears every time he heard Mercedes call and ask where he was and why he ran away from home. Never asking how he was doing, or if he was okay. He nearly threw the phone against the room when Rachel's 5 offers of a makeover were so blatantly transparent…"

"We want to know how he's doing."

"Well I'm telling you exactly how he is doing. He's not doing great, but given time and enough distance from you all. He'll be better."

"I miss him." Everyone turned around to look at Brittany. "What? He's the only boyfriend that ever made me feel special and didn't use me for sex."

"Then that's settled. We're going to see him." Puck said, trying to be menacing to Blaine, who didn't even flinch.

"Fine. You can try. But remember that I warned you when he asks you all to leave."

* * *

When Blaine returned home after bitching out the New Directions, Kurt was sitting in the living room with a Dalton copy of _The Taming of the Shrew_ that they both had to read for English. It appears Kurt had gotten through over half of it, which is more than Blaine can say who hasn't even started reading it and it needed to be read by Wednesday. "Hey." Kurt said, closing his book and standing up from the couch. "Where have you been?"

Blaine shrugs. "Out. Went to the park, took a walk around."

"The park huh? You mean the one right next to McKinley High School in Lima?" Kurt asked, raising his eyebrows and Blaine stared at him unbelievably.

"How'd you?"

"I may not be actively reading their texts or listening to their voicemails, but when Santana and Puck mention being bitched out by a hobbit, Rachel mentions something about the competition spying on them, and Mercedes says that she misses her best friend, all within 5 minutes of each other on Facebook? Something has to add up." Kurt reasons, and Blaine sighs and nods his head.

"Yea, I went and talked to them." Kurt shook his head.

"I wish you hadn't." Kurt said grabbing Blaine's hand and pulling him to sit on the couch. "I don't need you to fight my battles for me." Blaine frowned. "I am so thankful to you and your parents for letting me stay here."

"Live." Blaine cut in. Kurt's confused face told him to explain. "Stay sounds… temporary. Like you're going to leave any moment. We're letting you live here, not stay." Kurt dropped his head for a moment, but smiled at the same time.

After a moment he raised his head back up to continue what he was saying. "I'm so thankful to you and your parents for letting me _live_ here, but that's all I need you to do for me. I don't need you fighting my battles; I don't need you talking to my friends about me, without me knowing about it. I don't need you to drive to Lima before I even wake up to yell at my friends and my idiotic stepbrother for me. If I wanted to do that, I would have done it myself."

"It's not like I was trying to hide it—"

"Blaine please. You left before I woke up and when I asked where you were you lied to me. If that doesn't scream 'I'm trying to hide something' I don't know what does?" Kurt said, and Blaine sighed.

"I'm sorry. I just… You get so upset whenever they call and text. I hate seeing you like that."

"I know you do. I do too. You can't imagine how much I hate the fact that they keep calling and texting me when I don't want them to. But for now, can you let me handle the New Directions on my own? Please?" Blaine looked at Kurt for a moment, thought about how much he hated seeing Kurt in pain, versus how much he hated seeing Kurt look the way he does now. Deceived and betrayed by someone he was supposed to trust.

Nodding he says, "Okay. I promise." With a grin Kurt thanks him.

But a brief moment later, the doorbell rings. "I wonder who that could be?" Kurt asks.

"Oh yea… There's something I forgot to mention." Blaine said as the two of them stood up to get the door. When Kurt pulled it open to find Santana, Puck, Brittany, Mercedes and Rachel standing on the Andersons' stoop, Kurt's mouth dropped, and then looked to Blaine. "I kinda told them you were living here…"

* * *

Read and Review Please :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, short chapter but the next chapter should be longer. It will consist of a confrontation between Burt/Kurt/Andersons, and perhaps a confrontation between Carole and Kurt as well....

Before Kurt could say anything to the 5 people standing in front of him, the blonde cheerleader rushed passed everyone else and flew into his not-yet welcoming arms. He’d be upset with her, if it hadn’t been Brittany.  No one could stay mad at Brittany for long, mainly because if she ever did anything wrong, she never knew it.

“Dolphin!” She cried out hugging him tightly, seeing as she hadn’t seen him in over a month and a half.  Even though Kurt had only been at the Andersons’ for a week, he hadn’t been able to hang out with much of New Directions because of Carole and her insanity.

“What are you guys doing here?” He asked, tentatively wrapping his arms around Brittany to return the hug. He was conflicted; angry at Blaine for telling them where he was living, angry at the New Directions for helping his dad, and relieved at seeing the first real friends he ever had despite how they had acted a few days ago.

“We came to see you of course!” Rachel said, pushing into the house and standing next to Kurt, waiting for her turn to hug the countertenor. It didn’t come though, because Brittany hadn’t let go of him yet, and instead just held onto him as if she was afraid if she let go, she’d never see him again.

“I want to apologize… I shouldn’t have tried to help your father.” Mercedes said lamely, not sure if her apology was going to be welcomed.

“Sorry Kurt, we just…” Santana tried to explain, but Puck interrupted her.

“We were worried about you, Dude.” They all looked sincere, but Kurt couldn’t tell if that was because he wanted to believe they were sincere, of if they really were.

“I told them you didn’t want to see them…” Blaine tried to explain but Rachel scoffed.

“But we had to Kurt.” She said glaring at the shorter Warbler. “Just because you’re at Dalton doesn’t mean you’re not still part of the New Directions.  You’ve always been one of us, and we just aren’t the same without you. You’re still our friend.”

“We care about you, Dude.”

“And we think it’s despicable what happened that forced you to run—move out.” Santana quickly changed her choice of words when she saw both Kurt and Blaine’s faces at the initial mention of running away.

“Yea, just what do you know about why I moved out?” He asked, trying to unhook Brittany from his body, but she just held on tighter, while looking up at him smiling.

“I’d have moved out too, being forced to do all those chores, while Finn sat on his ass doing nothing.” Puck commented, and everyone else nodded.

“That was un-cool.” Santana added.

“We didn’t know.” Mercedes told him, sending him a warm look. Kurt just shook his head and laughed bitterly. “If we did…” She trailed off, and Kurt didn’t know if it was because she didn’t know what they would have done, or because she just didn’t want to say it.

“You think I left because I couldn’t deal with the chores anymore? Are you that insane?” Kurt shrieked at them. Because really, an overabundance of chores was not a reason to move out of your house. If it had just been that, Kurt could have handled it, could have dealt with it.

“Kurt!” Blaine tried to warn him, he didn’t think it would be wise to escalate the confrontation already brewing.

“What the hell Dude?  We came to tell you that we’re on your side.” Puck said, getting a little angry.

“We don’t like that Finn just watched you—“ Mercedes told him, and Kurt pushed Brittany off of him, not harshly but enough to get her to break her hold on him.

“Enough about Finn.  This wasn’t about chores.” He bellowed.

“Then what was it about then?” Mercedes challenged, but Kurt stayed quiet.

“She hurt you, didn’t she?” A quiet voice asked, and all heads turned to the blonde cheerleader who had just been pushed off of Kurt.

“Why would you think that, Britt?” He asked tentatively, not wanting to confirm or deny anything until he understood where Brittany was coming from.

“I overheard the mouse lady talking to Finn yesterday in her office. I was trying to find my locker, but I got lost. I stopped outside her office and they were talking.  She asked him if his mom ever hit him.” She told them all, and Kurt sighed.  He really didn’t want anyone else to know what happened, it was bad enough that Blaine knew, but now that his Dad and Mrs. Johnson knew, he just wanted it all to go away.

“Wait, what?” Santana asked, outraged. “She hurt you?” She asked, looking to Kurt for confirmation. Brittany wasn’t always one to say the brightest of things, but she’d never lie. So everyone in the room (minus Blaine who really didn’t know the girl as well as the others) knew that if she said she heard Miss Pillsbury say that Carole hurt Kurt, it was probably true.

“Come on, sit down.  I think this conversation would be best had sitting down.” Kurt gestured to the living room, right next to the foyer where they were all standing. The New Directions all walked in the direction that Kurt pointed, but he and Blaine hung back for a second.

“Kurt, are you sure about this?” Blaine asked. The last thing he wanted was for Kurt to be forced to explain something to someone because Blaine couldn’t keep his mouth shut about where Kurt was living.

“No.  But if I don’t explain they’re going to make up scenarios in their head where I was beaten, raped and hospitalized.  Trust me, I know their imaginations.” Kurt sighed.  He hated that he knew the thought process of the New Directions so well, but because he did he needed to explain to them what was going on.  He didn’t want them thinking anything worse happened than actually did. He didn’t need them giving him pity that he didn’t want or need. So with a deep breath he walked into the living room with Blaine by his side.

“So it all started around the time of the wedding…”

* * *

By the end of the explanation, Puck and Santana looked murderous, Rachel and Mercedes looked like they were about to cry, and Brittany… well Brittany had moved to sit next Kurt on the couch halfway through the explanation and was hugging him furiously. There were already tears in her eyes, she hated that anyone was hurting her favorite ex-boyfriend.  He had been the only one of her boyfriends who hadn’t used her for sex and then dumped her. She would always have a special place in her heart for him.

“And that’s why I moved out.  Because I couldn’t stand the idea of living in that house for one more day.” There was silence for a few moments. Kurt didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad one, but he didn’t try to kill the awkward silence, as that probably would have just made it more awkward. A few moments later though, Puck spoke up.

“I don’t usually hit on ladies but for Carole, I’ll make an exception.” Kurt went wide-eyed and he was about to protest when Santana spoke up.

“Damn straight.  Woman needs to get a taste of her own medicine.”

“Guys, no.” He told them, breaking up their internal planning of Carole’s demise.

“Why not?” They both asked in unison, their patience running thin in regards to the woman they had both met and looked up to in the past.

“I don’t want her to get hurt.  I don’t want her to get arrested or harassed by a bunch of high schoolers.  I just want her out of my life.” He told them honestly, and they could see the sincerity in his face. None of them had ever gone through what Kurt has gone through in his life. He’d gone through his mother dying, bullying, death threats, a new family and now abuse. His life was hard, and no one was going to deny him the one thing he wanted, even if it meant going against their need for justice.

“But don’t you want revenge?” Rachel asked, and Kurt shook his head.

“No.  I just want to live my life free of any of her and the problems she brings me.” Kurt tells them, and they all nod, not speaking until Brittany’s quiet voice pipes up from she was clutched to Kurt’s side.

“Are you happy, Kurtie?” She asked, and Kurt smiled down at the innocent girl.

“I will be Britt.  I will be.”

* * *

Burt was sitting in the middle of his living room watching TV when his wife stormed into the house, and stalked right in front of the television so he wouldn’t be able to ignore her. She was angry. He knew precisely why she was angry, but it didn’t mean it was any less frightening to see her in such a state.

“Burt, would you mind telling me why my debit card was declined at the store today?” She demanded, and Burt replied simply.

“I deactivated it.” He said, lifting the remote to pause the DVR so he wouldn’t miss anything during the confrontation he and Carole were clearly about to have.

“Why?” She demanded once more, and Burt stood up, pulling his wallet out.

“Because you’ve been spending too much money lately.” Her mouth gaped open, and she was getting visibly angrier than she already had been.

“How do you expect me to pay for things like groceries?” She asks, because ever since Kurt left she was the one that had to purchase the groceries, because Burt sure as hell wasn’t going to do it when he had to work all day long. She knew she couldn’t put it off any longer.

He takes what appears to be a gift card out of his wallet. It’s a gift card to the local grocery store and he hands it to her. “It’s reloadable.  Every week I’ll put more money on it. You can buy groceries with this.” He says, and she stares at him as if he had just grown another head.

“Why are you doing this to me?” She asks, limply taking the gift card out of his hand.

“Because its time I take back control of my own home.” Burt said, before he walked out of the living room, forgetting about what he was watching in favor of going for a walk outside. He wasn’t all too fond of his wife at this moment, and being away from her right now was the only way to keep himself in check.

* * *

Later that night, the three Andersons plus Kurt were sitting at the dining room table in their usual spots slowly eating. Blaine had convinced Kurt to tell his parents what had happened between him and Carole, mainly because now that more people knew, he believed that his parents had a right to know, especially as they cared so much for him. Kurt surprisingly hadn’t protested it at all.  He had decided to tell them when he was talking to the New Directions earlier that day. Julia and Martin weren’t pleased about the fact that Kurt had hid it from them, nor were they especially happy that Blaine didn’t immediately tell them. Julia was the first to speak after Kurt finished explaining what happened.

“Kurt, why didn’t you tell us before?” Kurt sighed and took a drink of water, both to give him a second to compose himself, and to help swallow the bite he had taken just seconds before.

“Because before Sunday, I hadn’t told anyone.” He confessed. “Blaine’s the only one who knew and that only happened on Sunday.” He told them, and they had both looked to their son.

“Blaine, why didn’t you tell us?” Martin asked and Blaine looked at his father intently.

“Not my secret to tell.” Both of his parents looked slightly disapproving at that statement, but at the same time proud that their son was that loyal to his friend.

“I’m fine now.  Really.  It bothered me more that she would do it, more than her actually doing it, if you get what I mean.” They all nodded, because on some level they could understand. They’d never be able to fully understand what he had gone through at that house, but they could understand the anger of someone that was supposed to care about them doing something they shouldn’t, more than the actual act itself.

“Still, I wish you would have told us.” Julia said softly.

“Had we known… we would have insisted you leave sooner than you did.”

“The bruises are healing.  Soon they’ll just be a hazy memory. I don’t have to deal with her anymore.” Kurt said confidently, and that was the end of the discussion. They didn’t have to talk anymore, because they all knew that Kurt didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Kurt wasn’t one to discuss his problems so openly. Sure he told them about the chores and stuff a few weeks ago, and he pretty much told Blaine everything, but he still didn’t like feeling pitied, and if they continued the conversation any longer, that’s all he would feel. They knew that, they understood that. So they didn’t push it.

* * *

Finn was standing in the middle of the living room when Burt returned from his walk.  It had been a couple of hours since and even though he hadn’t been walking the entire time (He found a park a little ways away from his house that he stayed at for about an hour) he was tired. When he walked in the front door, Finn looked like he needed to talk to him.

“Hey Finn, is everything okay?” Burt asked, concerned about his step-son. Because even though Carole had hurt his son, Finn hadn’t really done anything to Kurt.  Ignored his suffering a little bit, but hadn’t done anything physical to him, so he was still okay in Burt’s book.

“Umm… You know how I had Glee rehearsal this morning?” He asked, and Burt nodded slowly.

“Yea, what about it?”

“That Blaine kid, Kurt’s friend from Dalton showed up.”

“What’d he say?”

“He kinda yelled at me and the rest of the New Directions for a bit, but then he said…”

“What is it, Finn?” Burt asked, a little more worried, but wanting to know what Blaine had told Finn more than ever.

“He said that Kurt’s been living with him now.”


	6. Chapter 6

Sunday morning around 10am, found Kurt and Blaine sitting on the Andersons’ living room sofa searching for something to watch on TV while eating the most sugary cereal that was presently in the house. Normally Kurt abhorred sugary cereal, being full of empty calories and a pointless waste of time, but after the week he had, he just wanted to forget about his worries and be a kid again, even if legally he was an adult. They were currently flipping through the 900 channels that the Andersons’ have through their satellite company when Blaine broke the silence.

“You know what I love about Sunday mornings?” Blaine asked, and Kurt turned his head to look at Blaine’s pensive face.

“What?” Kurt decided to amuse Blaine and answer what was probably meant as a rhetorical question.

“The laziness of it all.  There is no need to get up super early, and go anywhere –“ Kurt interrupted him, because he just _had_ to.

“Well you didn’t exactly have to get up early yesterday you know.  That was you voluntarily being stupid.” Kurt said, and Blaine shrugged his shoulders. He knew Kurt was right, but he still felt that he did what he had to do as a friend at the time.

“Hey! Everything worked out right in the end!”

“Yes, being ambushed by 5 of my friends 30 minutes after I wake up and then having to reveal a huge secret that I didn’t want to tell is what I call working out right in the end.” Kurt said sarcastically, making Blaine feel bad once again. He frowned and looked over at his friend with a pout.

“Have I told you lately how sorry I am that I told them you were living here?” Kurt shook his head.

“Not in the past hour…”

“Well then I’m overdue…” He smiled, and they both went back to searching for something to watch. Even through those 900 channels, nothing they wanted to watch was on. It was all home improvement shows, and toddler television at this hour. “I wish there were better cartoons on.  I miss old 90’s Nickelodeon shows.” Blaine lamented, and Kurt rolled his eyes.

“Blaine, you were born in 1995.  What do you know about old 90’s Nickelodeon shows?” Blaine scoffed.

“I may have been born in 1995, but I had an older brother who was born in 1986… I grew up watching the classics.  Up until he went to college, every Saturday morning would be spent watching old VHS tapes of shows he recorded. Rugrats, Doug, Salute Your Shorts, Hey Dude… The only stuff that is on now is complete crap.” Blaine said and Kurt had to agree, that the cartoons and television shows for _kids_ nowadays were crap.

“I wish I had a brother that I could have had a tradition like that with.” He sighed. “The closest thing to a tradition that I had with Finn was that he would wake up at noon on Saturdays, pour himself a bowl of sugary cereal and then complain he couldn’t hear the TV when I was vacuuming the living room.” Kurt commented, and Blaine turned his head to look at his friend.

“I wish things had been different for you.” Kurt smiled.

“Me too.”

Martin had said that one of his colleagues would be coming over to discuss a case sometime today, so they didn’t think much of it when the doorbell rang and Julia went to answer it. They just looked at each other, shrugged and continued watching television. It wasn’t until a few moments later when they heard a bellowing and booming voice that they realized something was wrong.

“--MY SON!” Kurt’s eyes widened when he heard the very familiar voice of his father echoing throughout the house. He gulped when he heard Julia’s response.

“Your son doesn’t want to see you.” She told him, and Kurt sunk down on the sofa trying not to let his father see him, because there was a direct line of sight from the front door, to the living room and Kurt really didn’t want to talk to or see his father.

“Who are you to tell me that I can’t see my own flesh and blood?” Burt challenged Julia’s authority, to which she just scoffed.

“The one woman in his life that actually cares about his wellbeing?” She answered and Burt growled.

“Get out of my way, Lady.  I want to talk to Kurt.” Apparently Martin had heard the commotion and had come out of his office to see Burt and Julia arguing in the foyer.

“You will not speak to my wife like that in our home.” He said, storming right up to Burt, putting himself in the middle of the angry man and his wife.

“Should have thought about that before you convinced my son to run away from mine.” Burt countered, and that was when Kurt had had enough. He jumped up from the couch and stomped over to the front door when his father was standing.

“I didn’t run away!” He screamed at his father, something he’s really never done before. He’s raised his voice a tiny bit when he was angry, but he had never screamed at the man before. “I moved out because you weren’t providing safety like you always promised you would! It was your job to keep me safe, and you didn’t do it.” Kurt told him, his breath ragged, unable to keep it steady because he was so angry at the man who raised him.

“Kurt, you don’t have to explain yourself to him.” Martin said, placing his hands upon Kurt’s shoulders trying to calm him down.

“Don’t tell my son what to do.” Burt snarled at the man in front of him.

“I’m not.  I’m telling him what he doesn’t have to do.” Martin countered.

“Don’t tell him anything.  He’s not your son.” Burt hollered.

“He’s as well as.” Martin said, and Kurt turned to look at the man who had taken him in when he needed a safe haven. Tears began to form in his eyes.

“We love and care about him just as much as our own sons and we treat him equally as well. None of this preferential treatment nonsense that we hear goes on at your house.” Julia informed Burt, and Burt glared at the woman.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He dared to ask, and Martin glanced up to look Burt in the eye.

“It means that we don’t sit back and watch as he gets hurt and do nothing about it.  We don’t allow him to get mistreated and pretend that it just isn’t happening.”

“And I did, is that what you’re saying?” Burt asks, and both Martin and Julia have to fight back the urge to scoff.

“Well, you sure as hell didn’t stop it.” Julia told him, and Burt seemed to deflate a little bit.

“I didn’t know.”

“How could you not know when I came to work and couldn’t bend over a car because my stomach was bruised so badly?  How could you not know when you’d come home from work and I’d lock myself in my room and refuse to eat because she hurt me so bad that the thought of spending any time in her presence made me physically ill?” Kurt asked, tears spilling down his face. Burt’s face softened, seeing his son cry.

“I’d never noticed.”

“That’s even worse!” Blaine shouted from behind all four of those in the confrontation.

“Blaine…” Martin said in a warning tone, trying to keep his son out of it.

“No.  I noticed something was wrong when Kurt came to school limping one day.” Blaine said, putting his arm around Kurt and addressing his father. “But he couldn’t tell living with him?  That’s ridiculous.” He turned to look at Burt. “Anyone who loved and cared about Kurt as much as you profess to would have noticed.” He accused the man, and like any man accused of neglect, Burt’s defenses went up.

“I had more important things to deal with.  I have more important things to worry about.”

“More important than your only son?” Kurt shouted, and everyone in the tiny foyer recoiled at the shock of the tone and volume emanating from the seemingly fragile boy.

“Of course not, Kurt.  But…”

“There’s no ‘buts’ Dad.  Either I was important enough to notice, or not.” Kurt wiped the tears that had fallen down his face, before speaking again.”I want to give you a second chance Dad. Until Carole came along you were the best father a kid could ask for.” He said, but it was clear there was more to the thought process.

“But…”

“But until Carole is willing to make amends and apologize, I can’t live in that house anymore.  Unless…” Kurt trailed off, not really wanting to suggest what he desperately wanted.

“Unless what, Kurt?” Burt asked, and Kurt sighed.

“Unless the two of you were no longer together.”

* * *

It was movie night in Kurt’s bedroom later that evening. They had just finished watching one of Blaine’s favorite movies (Little Mermaid) and now they were watching one of Kurt’s (Moulin Rouge). It had been an eventful day, and they were just trying to wind down. They had been doing a successful job of it, until Blaine spoke up.

“You know that no one who truly claims to care about you would be able to watch you get hurt without getting hurt themselves, right?” He asked Kurt, trying to be both comforting and reassuring at the same time. Kurt sighed, because he was sick of hearing about his family’s problems.  He loved that the Andersons’ cared about him as much as they did, but sometimes he just needed a break.

“Blaine… I appreciate the sentiment.  But do you think we can go one evening without talking about my dysfunctional family? Please?” He asked, and Blaine nodded.

“Okay… I just want you to know that I care about you and the thought of her hurting you… breaks my heart.” Kurt turned to look at Blaine. The boy had never said anything like that before, and it was delving into new territory for the both of them. They both cared about one another… as friends. But heartbreaking? Was another level of friendship altogether.

“What are you saying, Blaine?” Kurt asked quietly, not wanting to scare Blaine off.

“Okay, I know that the last thing you probably want right now is someone telling you they like you…” Kurt’s breath hitched, he hadn’t expected this from his best friend.”…and adding on a bunch more emotions to the ones already stacking up…”

“Blaine?” Kurt said his name, and Blaine turned to look at him.

“But I can’t keep it to myself anymore.  I like you Kurt, as in… more than a friend.” The sincerity shone on his face, and it warmed Kurt’s heart. To know that someone cared for him as more than a friend was something Kurt had never expected, certainly not while he was still living in Ohio.

“Oh...”

“I understand if you don’t return them or particularly want them right now.” Kurt had to fight back a laugh, because really how could Kurt not want those feelings given to him right now?

“Blaine….” He said, trying to stave off the rambling rant that he knew was coming from Blaine, he’d heard it before and he wanted to stop it before it got to avalanche levels of velocity.

“No, I get it.  With all the stuff that’s going on with your family the last thing you need is a boyfriend.”

“You’re right.” This stopped Blaine, but not for the reason Kurt wanted it to. Those two words cut into Blaine like a knife, not Kurt’s intention, but he would soon make up for it.

“Thanks….” Blaine said, his voice wavering just a little. “I’ll just… go.” He said, getting up and heading towards the door to Kurt’s room.

“But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t return them.” Kurt called after him, and this gave Blaine hope, as he turned around and looked at his best friend, and object of his affection.

“What?”

Kurt got off the bed, pushing the laptop that was on his legs off to the side and walked over to where Blaine was standing still. He grabbed hold of one of Blaine’s hands and held it in both of his. “Blaine, you’re right.  The last thing I need right now is a boyfriend to add to my emotional plate.  But I’ve had a massive crush on you… for months.” He confessed, and he could swear that there was a little smile shining its way through Blaine’s hurt visage.

“How long?”

“What day did we meet, again?” Kurt asked, grinning the entire time. This brought that little smile that was ready to show bursting out of Blaine.

“Seriously?” Kurt nodded.

“Yea…” There’s a silence as the two boys just stood in the center of Kurt’s room, neither sure of what to say. Kurt was still holding Blaine’s hand, and Blaine was eager to let him continue holding it. “Listen Blaine… I would love to be your boyfriend…” He trailed off, and Blaine knew what was coming.

“But?” Kurt swallowed the lump rising in his throat.

“My ability to trust and love… it’s been shaken to its core.” He said, dropping Blaine’s hand, but raising them to rest on Blaine’s shoulders instead. “I can’t be anyone’s boyfriend right now.  As much as it pains me to say it.”

“I understand.” Even though Kurt’s mouth said no, his actions were saying yes. The mixed signals were throwing Blaine’s sense of direction off everywhere.

“At the same time though… I don’t want to reject you outright and risk losing you forever; when every fiber of my non-rational being is telling me to go after you.”

“You’ll never lose me, Kurt.” Blaine reassures his best friend; bringing his hands up to cup Kurt’s face.

“Maybe…. We can try… taking it slow?” Kurt asks, and Blaine smiles.

“I’d like that.” They pull each other into an embrace, unlike any other they’ve ever experienced. One between two people who care about each other in ways they never thought they’d experience. They didn’t kiss, they didn’t have to. They agreed to go slow, and the embrace was enough for now.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine and Kurt discuss some of the events of the previous week...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This set up is a little different to my usual format for this story. In this case, we visit three flashbacks to present time, (all set after the last chapter) however within each flashback, is another flashback. So I'd pay special attention to page breaks, and the number's of the Flashbacks. It goes: Flashback 1, 2, 3, 2, 1. It might be a little confusing if you don't follow it properly, but I hope you will...
> 
> For reference:  
> Present day: Friday, May 29, 2011 around 11:30pm  
> Flashback #1: Monday, May 23, 2011 around 3:30pm  
> Flashback #2: Sunday, May 22, 2011 around 5:30pm  
> Flashback #3: Sunday, May 22, 2011 around 1:00pm
> 
> I also want to give an explanation as to why its taken so long to get this chapter out. Truth is, I only started writing it yesterday evening. Last Sunday, the day after I posted Chapter 6, started a period of sleep deprivation in which I could not get to sleep, no matter how hard I tried. Sunday night, I got about 4 hours before I had to wake up. Monday night it was about 4, Tuesday night, about 4. Wednesday night, about 4. It wasn't until Thursday night when I experienced a horrible, horrible migraine that allowed me to sleep the entire night through (and anyone who reads my story Invisible Illness knows just how horrible they can be and that sleep is the only cure for them) that I was able to get some decent sleep and get back on a normal schedule in which my body let me fall asleep. It's taken a few more days but I'm finally caught up on sleep and no longer ready to bash my head in with a sledgehammer just to get some rest, which is why I'm able to write again! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter, even after coming a week later than I expected. :)

The two boys hadn’t quite defined the parameters of their relationship yet.  Blaine didn’t want to push Kurt too far into the whole boyfriend thing and Kurt didn’t want to consciously push himself farther than his psyche could handle.  So as of right now they were friends.  Friends who hugged slightly longer than is customary and friends who lay curled up in one another’s bed before they slept discussing any topic; whether it was politics, family, school or the latest reality TV bust.

Friday night the boys were found lying on Blaine’s previously perfectly made bed discussing what the week had brought to them.

“I can’t believe the week we’ve had.” Blaine said cuddled up next to Kurt.  They weren’t exactly spooning; Kurt was lying on his back and Blaine on his side next to him but they were comfortable. 

“Tell me about it.  With Finn and Dad and the New Directions… I thought leaving Lima was going to lessen the drama revolving around my life.” The fairer boy quipped, and Blaine snorted.

“Never! You, Kurt Hummel are the definition of drama.”

“Yea, but sometimes I wish I wasn’t.” Blaine frowned and ran a hand up Kurt’s arm.

“Hey, your life is dramatic, but you don’t cause the drama. Everyone else does. Don’t down yourself because of it.” Kurt shook his head and turned onto his side, so the two were facing each other.

“I’m not. I just…” He paused trying to think of what he wanted to say. “I just wish I didn’t have the people in my life who caused the dramatic moments… or at least wish that the people in my life caused them less often.”

“You mean like the Shakespeare tragedy that was this week?” Blaine asked and Kurt snorted.

“Yea… like that.”

* * *

_Flashback #1_

_As the two were walking out of the giant oak doors of Dalton’s main education building, they stopped in their tracks. Kurt hadn’t been expecting this. It was one thing for his father to come to Dalton to confront him, but seeing his 6’3” stepbrother leaning up against Kurt’s Navigator was enough to shock Kurt._

_“Isn’t that?” Blaine asked, as he turned to look at his friend whose breath had been quickening in pace over the past 15 seconds._

_“Yea, it is.”Kurt’s breath quivered as he let the rest of it out and Blaine raised his hand to rub along Kurt’s back._

_“You okay?” Kurt gulped, and he shook his head._

_“I don’t know, but we’ll see, won’t we?” They began to walk towards the man in green and before they even got there, he started to storm over towards them. They were sort of prepared for his anger, but it was still a little intimidating, especially to the two boys who were over 5 inches shorter than him._

_“What the hell were you thinking telling those guys that Mom hit you?” Finn yelled at Kurt._

_“Hi Finn, nice to see you too.” Kurt said, before pushing past his brother to get closer to his vehicle._

_“Don’t ignore me.  First you break up our family, and then you tell lies about my mother.  The least you can do is tell me why.” Finn’s anger was radiating off of him, and both Blaine and Kurt knew that he was liable to burst at any moment. “Why would you lie about something so serious?” Finn asks, his voice quieting in volume, but keeping the same tone._

_“Who says I’m lying?” Kurt asked his brother, as he opened the back seat and placed his messenger bag inside. He took a second to take a breath and swallow the lump building in his throat before turning around to face his brother once again and slamming the door shut._

_“Mom did!”_

_“Oh, because if Carole said it, then it has to be true.”_

_“Don’t talk about my mother like that!” He yelled. Blaine shook his head._

_“Why would you automatically assume that Kurt is the liar, and not that your mom is protecting herself?” Blaine asked the taller man, who glared in return._

_“My mom has never lied to me a day in her life.”_

_“Or so she says…” Kurt trailed off._

* * *

_Flashback #2_

_After Burt had gotten home from the Andersons’ on Sunday, he had calmed down a little bit. He had drove around for awhile trying to get a grasp of what had happened, and it was nearing dinner time when he walked in the side door to his home. He was angry at the entire situation that he was in. He was angry at Kurt for leaving, he was angry at Carole for driving him away.  He was angry at Finn for never trying to make Kurt feel like a member of his family, and angry at the Andersons’ for stealing his son away from him.  But most of all he was angry at himself for being completely oblivious to it all until it was too damn late._

_“Hi Hon, where’d you go today?” Carole asked as Burt walked in the door._

_“I went to see Kurt.” He told her and she rolled her eyes._

_“Again? Face it, he doesn’t want to be part of this family anymore, you should stop trying.”_

_“How can you even think that, let alone say it out loud Carole?  What if it was Finn that left the day he turned 18 years old without letting anyone know where he was?” She rolled her eyes at this._

_“Finn would never do that Burt, I raised him right.” Burt had been facing the kitchen sink when she said that, and he whipped around to stare at her._

_“Are you saying that I raised him wrong?” Burt asked, with a dangerous tone to his voice. She shrugged._

_“Well let’s just put it this way.  If I had raised him from a baby, he wouldn’t be…. What he is today.”_

_“You mean… gay?” Burt asks trying to gain some composure over himself. It would do no one any good if he got arrested for decking his wife._

_“Of course,” she said as if it was nothing. “He wouldn’t be so… f—“_

_“The word coming out of your mouth better be flamboyant otherwise I am calling a divorce lawyer in the morning.” She didn’t finish her sentence, preferring to allow Burt to believe that was what she was going to say._

_“I’m just saying. You could have done a better job of raising him.”_

_“I raised my son to be respectful, polite, responsible, and confident about who he is. You’re the one who has raised a disrespectful slob who hasn’t worked a day in his life.” Burt slammed his hand on the counter._

_Somewhere else in the house, Finn had been playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with Puck online. He could hear Burt and Carole screaming at each other downstairs and he couldn’t stand it. Ever since Kurt had ran away from home, Finn’s life was just chaotic. The dishes in the sink were piling up, and it was almost impossible to see anything on the living room TV through the dust that was caked onto the screen. He had to take his sleeve yesterday and wipe off the excess dust simply so he could see the fighters on UFC and not just listen to Joe Rogan’s color commentary._

_“They’re at it again.” He whined through his headset to Puck._

_“Carole and Burt?” Finn grunted his acknowledgment.  “They have every reason to argue, Finn. She abused his son, that’s definitely arguable._

_“How many times do I have to say it, he wasn’t abused?” Finn let out a disgruntled groan of annoyance._

* * *

_Flashback #3_

_Will Schuester was a tyrant who needed to be stopped, or at least that’s what all of the New Directions members thought with the exception of Rachel Berry.  Not only did he have them coming in for a Saturday morning rehearsal, but had them all come in on Sunday afternoon for another one. Finn thought his teacher was smart to have them all practicing as much as he was because they had never been a show choir to practice their performances all that much, but at the same time, he hated having to go to school on a Sunday. Especially with how yesterday’s rehearsal went._

_The actual rehearsing went perfectly; it was everything that happened before Schuester came into the room to start the practice that screwed everything up. So when he walked into the choir room on Sunday, the burning gaze of 5 people were upon him. He glared at those select few and shrugged his shoulders while sending them a vicious “What?” in return for the glares at him._

_“You’re a horrible person, Finnegan Hudson.” Rachel glared at her former boyfriend, who made a face._

_“There he goes with that gassy infant look…” Santana snarked before getting up from her seat.  She was followed by Rachel, Puck, Mercedes and Brittany._

_“How could you possibly let that happen to Kurt?” Mercedes shook her head in disgust at the boy before her. She was a firm believer in do unto others as you would want them to do to you, and she never would have let a sibling that she claimed to care about be hurt as Kurt was._

_“Nothing happened to Kurt.” Finn said, looking at each one of them in the eye in turn. “Like normal, he’s blowing everything out of proportion.”_

_“So you’re saying that the mark he showed us yesterday on his arm was what? His ability to bruise easily?” Santana quipped and Finn sort of shrugged and nodded._

_“You’re insane, Finn. When was the last time you even spoke to Kurt?  Like actually sat down and talked to him?” Puck asked._

_“I don’t know? We didn’t get to talk for the few days before he ran away.”_

_“Moved out.” Rachel and Mercedes corrected him._

_“Whatever.  He left home and we hadn’t been able to talk for a while.”_

_“How long is a while?” Santana asked, her tone reaching dangerous levels._

_“A week, maybe two?” Everyone in the room, including those who weren’t part of the conversation but had been listening in shrieked at this._

_“Even I’ve had a real conversation with him more often than that.” Sam said from where he was sitting next to Tina and Mike. “And I barely got to know him before he transferred to Dalton.” Sam shook his head in disgust._

_“What’s your point?”_

_“Our point is that you treated Kurt like crap for the entire time you two lived together, and that’s just wrong.” Puck told him._

_“I didn’t treat him any differently than I used to treat him.”_

_“That’s true, you know.” Quinn spoke up from the corner of the room. They all turned to look at her, Finn included and she gave them all a pointed look. “Before last year, Finn never gave a rat’s ass about Kurt and we all know it. None of us really cared about Kurt in any way, it was only when we all joined Glee that we started to care about him. So if you think about it, Finn ignoring Kurt while he gets assaulted and abused by a bully? It really is in Finn’s nature; even if the bully is no longer Puck, but Finn’s own mother.”_

_There was silence as they all took a moment to think about what Quinn had just said. It was true to a point. For the longest time Finn never really cared about Kurt in any way. Sure he would sometimes let him take his jacket off so it wouldn’t get destroyed when Puck and the guys decided to dumpster him, but other than that Finn ignored Kurt just like everyone else. It was easy to ignore Kurt, because unless Kurt was singing or wearing a crazy outfit, he wasn’t actively calling attention to himself by screaming out. He never once ran to the teachers when the bullies would pick on him, he’d never tell his dad what happened at the school leading Burt to confront the administration. Kurt dealt with everything on his own, and never once looked elsewhere for help unless someone actively tried to help him._

_Everyone seemed to take Quinn’s words to heart, but Finn didn’t.  He couldn’t.  He couldn’t believe for a single minute that his mother…the woman who gave him life, the strong willed, single woman who raised him from a baby after his father died… could be so cruel to another living being._

_“It’s not true. I don’t care what you all think. My mom is not violent. She did not hurt Kurt.”_

* * *

_Flashback #2_

_“And I’m telling you, dude that Kurt looked incredibly real when he was telling us all this yesterday.” Puck reminded Finn._

_“So you’re saying you believe my mom is capable of abuse?” Puck paused the game in order to think about his next words very carefully._

_“I’m saying that your mom is capable of nearly anything, just like you and me. Maybe Kurt misunderstood what happened, but do you really think he’d say that she hit him, if she never laid a single hand on him?”_

_This got Finn thinking, and a few minutes later he quickly signed off of his Xbox and walked quietly downstairs. As he approached his parents in the kitchen, he overheard Burt say something about a divorce._

_“There are only two ways that I’m going to get Kurt back home, Carole. Either you apologize, or we get a divorce.” Burt said his voice strained. “I don’t want to get a divorce. You know I don’t like divorce. You know how much I hate the entire concept.” Burt reasoned with her._

_“Well I’m not going to apologize to the liar, if that’s what you’re asking.” Carole scoffed. “Why should I apologize for something I didn’t do?” She countered. “Why shouldn’t he apologize for accusing me of something I didn’t do?” She asked and Burt groaned._

_“This is my son we’re talking about Carole! This isn’t one of your bimbo friends who gossiped about you. This is someone who I love and care about. You need to apologize to him, make him see that you’re sorry because he is angry about this, and damn it so am I!” He shouted._

_“Well I think it’s time for you to choose, Burt. You say you love and care about me, and you love and care about your son. He’s not going to move back here unless I apologize, and I’m not going to apologize for something I don’t believe I did. So you’re going to have to choose. Your homosexual son with a musical and fashion addiction? Or your wife?”_

_Burt stared at her, and shook his head. “You’re asking me to choose between you and my son?” Carole nodded._

_“It’s time to be a man, Burt Hummel. Make a decision and stick by it. Be with the woman who loves and supports you or side with the son who always has and always will be a disappointment.”_

_“KURT IS NOT A DISAPPOINTMENT!” Burt says, picking his truck’s keys off the kitchen table, and turning around so he can leave through the same door he entered just 10 minutes ago._

_“Where are you going?” Carole asked, oblivious to the choice Burt had just made._

_“I’m choosing my son.”_

_Carole was stunned. She didn’t think that Burt was going to choose the kid over her, not when she believed she had Burt so thoroughly wrapped around her little finger, but it didn’t work. A father’s instincts are always to protect his child, and that’s what he’s going to do. She couldn’t understand how he couldn’t see Kurt as a disappointment with his high pitched voice, his feminine characteristics and his love of all things girly. Sure, she and Kurt were interested in some of the same things, but she didn’t want a son who knew more about the world of high fashion than she did._

_“Mom?” Finn asked, walking into the kitchen. She quickly turned around and saw her pride and joy standing by the doorway. “Is everything okay?  Where’d Burt go?”_

_“Oh he’s just angry, Finn.  He’s gone to blow off some steam.  He’ll be back soon.” She said, walking over to her son, and wrapping an arm around him, pulling him into a half hug. “Don’t you worry about him.”_

_“Mom, why are you and Burt fighting so much?” Carole made a funny face while she jokingly shrugged her shoulders._

_“Burt’s just upset that Kurt left, Finn. He’s upset and he needs someone to take his anger out on. There’s no other reason for it.”_

_“So he’s in the wrong?” Finn asked, and Carole nodded._

_“Burt knows that what happened with Kurt is no one’s fault but Kurt’s. Kurt has always been overdramatic, dear. You know that better than anyone.” She pointed out, and Finn had to admit that he understood Kurt’s flair for the dramatic less than anyone, but experienced it more often than most._

_“I guess…”_

_“Don’t worry dear.  Everything is all right. Burt will come to his senses and come back home and our family will be better than it ever was.”_

_“Even without Kurt?”_

_“Especially without Kurt. We don’t need liars in this family, right Finn?” Finn smiled._

_“Right mom.”_

* * *

_Flashback #1_

_“Why would she lie to me? You’re the liar, Kurt.” Finn said, shaking his head._

_“Don’t call him a liar!” Blaine yelled, launching himself inbetween Kurt and Finn. “Kurt is the most honest person I’ve ever met, if he says something is true, then it’s true. You should believe him.”_

_“What would you know?” Finn asked, not believing a word that Blaine is saying. “You barely know Kurt. He’s my brother.”_

_“I know him a lot better than you do Finn.” Blaine said in a warning tone._

_“It’s true, Finn.  He does.”_

_“Impossible.” Finn says, staring over Blaine’s head to look at Kurt’s. “I’ve known you a lot longer than he has.”_

_“Yes, but you haven’t taken the time to get to know me nearly as much as he has. You and I learned far more about each other before we became brothers than we ever did afterwards.”_

_“So because we grew apart when we moved into the same house, you decided to accuse my mom of something she would never in a million years, do?” Finn asked, unable to believe Kurt’s reasoning._

_At the same time, Kurt couldn’t understand Finn’s logical leap from point A to point B. “I’m not accusing her of anything that she didn’t do, Finn.” Kurt said quietly, trying not to get over excited, because getting overworked and dramatic would just get Finn to blow him off and think Kurt’s over reacting…again._

_“My mom didn’t hurt you!” Finn shouted._

_“Then why do I have bruises on my back?  On my shoulders?  Why does my ankle still hurt occasionally whenever it’s about to rain? Do you think it’s because I’m a wuss? You know better than that. I went through so much at McKinley, Finn.  So much and I never thought about leaving until my life was threatened. After that I thought I’d be safer, and I was when I was at school.  But I just switched one unsafe environment for another. Instead of being in danger at school for 8 hours a day and being safe at home, I traded it for 8 hours of safety, and 16 hours of terror and abuse.” Kurt had begun yelling at his brother, and in the process had shrugged his Dalton blazer off and tossed it at Blaine who had caught it._

_“I longed for the days that I would get to spend extra time at Warblers’ practice, or be invited to stay over Blaine’s house or another of the Warblers’ because it got me away from Carole.” He was beginning to unbutton his Dalton assigned dress shirt. “Away from the orders, away from the punches, the kicks, the name calling, and everything else that I don’t like to think about, Finn.” Once he was finished unbuttoning his shirt he looked up at Finn. “I’d rather deal with 10 Karofsky’s, than deal with one Carole.” He opened his shirt and that too he shrugged off and tossed to Blaine, leaving Kurt shirtless, and his chest completely bare._

_The porcelain skin was covered in marks; some were just ready to go away. Some were still as bold as if they happened earlier that morning. “This one was when I refused to go grocery shopping because I had to study for a test.” Kurt said, pointing to a bruise on his shoulder blade, that was yellowing, and not as prominent as some of the others. “This one was from when I told her she could shove the vacuum hose up her ass, because I wasn’t going to do it anymore.” He pointed to his abdomen on the lower right side. “She leveled me with one punch to the gut that night, Finn. And continued to kick in that same spot 5 times before she left me on the floor. It was a damn good thing she didn’t cause my appendix to burst that night.” Kurt took a deep breath. “Though I’m sure if I did, I would have died that night.  It was the night Dad has a mechanics conference and it was just the three of us, and you know damn well she wasn’t going to take me to the hospital.”_

_“Kurt…” Finn said, his face had gone from anger to concern the moment Kurt took off his shirt._

_“Is this what you needed to see, Finn?” Kurt asked, trying to blink back the tears that were threatening to spill from his eyes. “Did you need to see the physical proof of what she did to me, before you could admit to yourself that your mother is a vile, horrible woman who hates me?”_

_“She doesn’t hate you…”_

_“She told you that I’m a liar who doesn’t deserve to be in our family, Finn. And I just showed you that I’m not.”_

_“What do you want me to say, Dude?” Finn asked lamely, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Kurt was telling the truth, and it was his mom who was the liar._

_“I want you to say that you believe me.” He was raised to be a loyal person. Never be disloyal to those you love and respect. If he were to believe Kurt, he’d be disloyal to his mother. But if he continued to believe his mother, despite the evidence to the contrary, he’d be disloyal to not only Kurt and Burt, but to himself._

_“I…”_

* * *

As the boys reminisced about the previous week, they had moved closer to each other, which wasn’t really a possibility, but somehow they managed it. Kurt was back to lying on his back, and Blaine had his entire body pressed into Kurt’s side, with his head resting on Kurt’s chest.  Kurt wasn’t exactly comfortable with the contact, especially since Blaine’s stomach was pressing into Kurt’s right side, but it was only a physical discomfort. Mentally and emotionally he was completely fine with it, relished in it actually. Loved the feeling of having someone so close, someone who actually cared about him, and would never harm him.

Blaine on the other hand was dying to kiss Kurt. Maybe dying was too strong of a word to use, but that’s what it felt like. Every time they touched or hugged, it killed Blaine a tiny bit more. He loved Kurt, not that he had said that to Kurt yet, but he did and being so close to him, and not being allowed to kiss him drove him crazy.

“I didn’t think any of what happened this week was going to happen.” Kurt confessed, breaking Blaine out of his thoughts.

“I know. I had no clue that Finn was going to accost us in the Dalton parking lot, and I had no clue that your father was going to well… you know.” Blaine trailed off, because really no one had any clue that Burt storming out of the Hudmel house on Sunday night would lead to what happened.

“I think that’s what surprised me most of all.” Kurt admitted, tears pooling in his eyes.

“You can’t blame yourself, Kurt.” Blaine said lifting his head to look into Kurt’s eyes.

“I can’t help it. If I hadn’t left home… if I hadn’t caused all that tension…” Kurt gulped, but Blaine quickly shook his head.

“No.  This isn’t your fault. If it’s anyone’s, its Carole’s. She’s the one who forced you to move, she’s the one who did this to you, and refuses to make amends for what she did.  She’s the reason your father left the house that night, and she is the reason that he’s currently in the condition that he’s in.  Not you.”

“But what if he doesn’t wake up?”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened to Burt Hummel?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all in Burt's PoV. Changing it up a little here, but I feel it was necessary for this chapter. Next chapter we'll be back to the usual format. :)

Leaving his house that night was not an easy decision. Leaving your family is never an easy decision, and should never be made on a whim. But he was forced into one, mainly because of the ultimatum that Carole gave him. How could she possibly ask him to choose between his wife and his son? Sure, he had promised to love and honor until death did they part. But he had promised Kurt so many more things…

He had promised Kurt that they’d find a way to survive after Elizabeth died.  He promised that he would always protect Kurt, from whatever tried to hurt him.  He promised he would help Kurt grow to be a proud and confident man.  He promised Kurt he would do anything in his power to make Kurt’s dreams come true. The one promise he made to Kurt, that Kurt apparently no longer wants Burt to live up to, is the promise that no matter what, Kurt would always have a roof over his head.  This one hurt Burt the most.

So really the decision was a no brainer. He had to make things right with Kurt. Kurt was always going to be #1 in his head and his heart. After Elizabeth died, it had just been the two of them, and neither one of them knew how they would survive without Elizabeth around to take care of them. Burt didn’t know how to cook and he had no clue about how to really take care of an 8 year old boy.  The first day after Burt’s mother left the Hummel House after Elizabeth died, Burt was out of his mind trying to understand what to do.  He had to figure out a new routine for him and his son and he had to do it quickly. Kurt had to be at school by 8:00, but Burt had to open the shop by 7:30. Burt couldn’t take off time from the shop to pick Kurt up from school every day at 3:30, nor could he afford a babysitter to watch Kurt after school until Burt came home at 6 o’clock… So many things that Burt had to figure out, and it wasn’t until Kurt suggested that he walk to the shop every day after school (it was only two blocks away from the Elementary school, and there were crossing guards at every street between the two places) that Burt realized the two would be okay.

As he was pulling out of the driveway of _his_ home, he stopped for a second, and just looked at it.  The house he and Elizabeth purchased before Kurt was even born. The house Burt hadn’t even finished paying off yet. There were so many memories in that house. His and Elizabeth’s first night as newlyweds… Elizabeth’s parents were old fashioned and were adamantly against their daughter and future son-in-law moving in together before the wedding. They had no problem with the two of them purchasing the house before the wedding, so long as Elizabeth didn’t stay there over night until the day of the Wedding. Burt thought it was ridiculously out-dated at the time, but when it came time for them to spend their first night together, it was also their first night as husband and wife, and that made it all the more special. They conceived Kurt that night. Eight months and 2 and a half weeks later, Kurt was born. In their bed. The little man had decided to come so fast that they didn’t have time to get Elizabeth to the hospital like they planned. Many men can say that they were there the night their child was born, but not many men can say they delivered their own child. Kurt’s first steps, his first meal.  The first time Christmas dinner was held in this house when all the grandparents came over here instead of trading off between both of their houses… It was heartbreaking to leave it, especially in the hands of Carole and Finn even for the night. But he had to get out of there and clear his head.

So he drove around Lima for a while. He knew what he was going to have to do for the night. He was going to have to go down to the motel on the other side of town that was known for two things. Affairs and divorcees to stay while they found a more permanent place to stay. He sighed. He hated the feeling of being judged by the woman who worked the counter. Marilyn Smith, he had worked on her car a few times, and knew her enough that they could both recognize each other on site. As he handed his credit card over to her, she looked at him with disapproval. He could tell that she knew something was wrong with his marriage and even though she knew not what it was, still in this town it wasn’t looked favorably to be spending your time in this motel.

“Here’s your room key, Burt.  Your room will be #221.” He nodded, and accepted the key without hesitation.

“Thanks Marilyn.” He about-faced and walked out the door, not saying another word. He didn’t want to potentially add any fuel to the fire that was going to spark up the moment he left the motel’s office anyway. Without a doubt within the next 20 minutes, every woman in Lima would know that Burt Hummel had rented a room at the seedy motel.

He walked down the long pathway and made his way to the room he was given. He didn’t see much, a couple of benches, some railings, a vending machine and a lot of cigarette butts on the grounds. He didn’t expect much better than this, but somehow it was still a letdown. Once he opened the door to the room, it was even more of a disappointment. There were two rooms, the bedroom and a bathroom. The bed was made, though that didn’t mean anything if Kurt’s complaining about the Cheerio’s hotels (Hiltons) were any indication.  Sighing, he sat down on the bed, and dropped his head into his hands.

“What am I going to do?” He whispers to the room at large, even though there’s no one there to hear him. He didn’t have any clothes with him, he hadn’t eaten anything all day, and he had no clue what he was going to do tomorrow. 

“Elizabeth… what do I do?” He looks up to the sky and asks his departed wife. “What am I supposed to do now? You and I always believed that marriage was till death. But what do I do now that the truth has come out? I’m lost Elizabeth, and I need your help.” He looked up at the ceiling, as if waiting for an answer; an answer that never arrived.

* * *

The next morning Burt woke up in a strange bed, in a strange room that smelled of must and sweat. It took him a moment to regain his bearings and realize just where he was: in a motel. He was in a motel, and slept in said motel last night because he left his wife. He had to get out of the home that he and Elizabeth had created, and left it in the hands of Carole the woman who had the nerve to hurt his son and drove him away. How could he let this happen?

He shook his head and dragged his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. It was going to be a long day, he knew it. He had to go to the shop and open up, and wait for Lenny and Max to arrive before he could leave. He’d have to go back to his house and pack up a suitcase, hopefully when Carole wasn’t home because he didn’t want to have to confront her again quite yet. He’d have to talk to a lawyer and see what he’d have to do to get a divorce, and as much as it pained him to admit it; he had to give Kurt his space. Kurt wasn’t his little boy anymore. Kurt didn’t need his father to protect him anymore; Kurt was able to do that all on his own. Out of all the things that happened in the past 24 hours that was probably going to be the hardest to come to terms with.

A little while later as he pulled into Hummel’s Tire and Lube, he was glad that he saw Lenny and Max already there. He walked up to them and apologized for getting there a little late, that he had a rough night, and no he didn’t want to talk about it.  They had each heard about Kurt leaving home and Burt’s subsequent quest to get his son talking to him again but neither knew how dark the story actually was. He walked to the back of the shop towards the office, and quickly made his way inside and straight over to the wall safe he had installed 20 years ago. Very few people knew the combination to get into the safe. In fact there were only three people to ever know the combination to the safe: Burt, Kurt, and Elizabeth. Elizabeth was now gone, and Kurt was as good as gone.  He sighed.

Spinning the dial clockwise three times to clear the lock, he hit the number 05, then turned to the left until he reached 15, then turned to the right until he hit 93. He turned the crank and it immediately opened, allowing him to see the items encased in the solid steel enclosure. Kurt’s birth certificate, the deed to the house and the garage, and most importantly. Burt’s Last Will and Testament. He took it out and read through it, smiling before putting it back into the safe and locking it up.

He left the Garage to his two employees about 15 minutes later and went to grab something to eat. He stopped by the local diner, it didn’t have the best food in the world, but Kurt would have had his head if he had tried to eat fast food like McDonald’s or Burger King’s breakfast. So he sat down at the closest table and waited for the waitress to stop by. It was some young twenty-something he didn’t know.  She asked for his order, and he debated getting an omelet with bacon and pancakes, but if Kurt found out, he’d be pissed. So he settled for an egg white omelet, waffles and a side of fresh fruit.

He hated eating healthy. He missed sinking his teeth into a nice thick juicy cheeseburger. Or the savory aroma you get when you cut into a perfectly cooked New York Strip, but he hadn’t had either of those in over a year. He was able to get ground beef on his pizza the night of his birthday. That was the only concession Kurt and Carole had both been willing to make. They both cared about his health, and wanted him to live a long healthy life. Neither one of them wanted him to die prematurely due to a heart attack. Though with the events of the past couple of weeks, it’s making Burt rethink if maybe Carole’s desire for Burt to live a long and healthy life isn’t as much for him, but as for her.

About 10 minutes later, his food was brought out and he started to eat, thinking about the last time he was in this diner. He had been with Kurt, the morning of the anniversary of Elizabeth’s death. He and Kurt had gone to visit her grave, make sure there were fresh flowers around and that no debris was lying on top of her. It was about 3 months ago. That was the one day out of the year that it was only the two of them. They’d get up early, get breakfast, before spending the morning at the cemetery, filling Elizabeth in on the goings on of their lives. They liked to think that they only ever went to see her together, but they both knew that wasn’t true. Kurt had gone there whenever he felt that life was too hard.  Burt went whenever he was longing for his first love and wanted to spend time with her any way he could. They never made mention of these individual trips to see her, but they both knew they happened.

He tried to remember the last conversation he and Kurt had before Kurt had moved out. Before the great split. Before everything went to hell.  Kurt had been cleaning the kitchen after dinner one night. They had had grilled chicken, with steamed broccoli and egg noodles with just a touch of unsalted butter and pepper.  It wasn’t the tastiest of meals, but it was healthy and Kurt was out of his mind strict about Burt’s diet. Looking back, it made Burt’s guilt soar knowing how much Kurt was looking after him, when he wasn’t doing the same.

When Burt’s meal was finished, he left a twenty on the table and left the diner. He got back in his car, and drove slowly towards his home. Dreading the thought of Carole being there. It was 11:30 in the morning, and usually she was out with her friends at this time, but today was a special day and he had no clue what she was going to do. How was she going to react the day after her husband leaves? Would she act like any normal woman would and hole up in the house and mourn the harrowing heartbreak that is her marriage, or go out and pretend nothing is wrong?

Burt soon discovered that it was the latter. When he pulled into the driveway, Finn’s car was gone, understandable since it was a Monday morning and he had school to go to, and Carole car was nowhere to be found. He breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly turned off the truck and ran into the house. Walking quickly up the stairs, he passed the door to Kurt’s room. The closed door to Kurt’s room. He sighed. He hadn’t been in there since the day that Kurt moved out. He had left the room and closed the door behind him. It was understood between Carole and Finn that no one was to go in there, or so he thought. Because a second later when he opened the door, he saw red.

No longer was it the bare confines of Kurt’s bedroom, with just his bed, desk and dressers, but it had all of Carole’s sewing kits scattered all over the place, her portable sewing machine stationed on Kurt’s desk. Fabric bundles all over the room. She had turned it into her own god damned sewing room without telling him.  Without even asking him.

“How could she do this?” He asked himself. But he had no answer. Was Carole that cold of a person, to just take over Kurt’s room so quickly after he moved out?  He walked over towards the desk, and picked up the portable sewing machine, and what he saw made him throw the machine at the wall. Dust. There was a dust outline of the sewing machine, indicating that it wasn’t a recent move. She hadn’t just moved her stuff in the night before, but it had been there for at least a week. He couldn’t believe that she could do something like that.

“I can’t stay in here…” His breath was ragged and he couldn’t control the intake of oxygen into his lungs. He left the room and walked towards the hall closet where he pulled out a suitcase from the top shelf and hauled it into his room. He grabbed everything he would need to survive living in a hotel. Shirts, pants. Underwear, socks. He didn’t want to come back here until things between him and Carole had been straightened out.

Once he was finished packing, he closed up the suitcase and brought it downstairs and lugged it out to the car. He threw it into the bed of the truck and then hopped back into the cab and pulled away, thankful that Carole hadn’t arrived while he was gone. He didn’t know what he would have done had she shown her face.

As he backs out of the driveway, he checks his mirrors and looks back and doesn’t see anyone coming. Once he is safely in the street he starts driving in the direction of the motel.

He drove and drove until he came across a 4 way stop sign.  He stopped and looked both ways.  This was a dangerous intersection because to the right of him, there was a curve and you couldn’t see beyond it. Once he was somewhat certain that the coast was clear, he began to drive across the crossroad. This was when some guy in a red corvette came speeding around the curve going twice the speed limit. He didn’t stop.

Burt didn’t see what hit him, literally. He didn’t know that the man who hit him was driving drunk at 1 o’clock in the afternoon.  He didn’t know that the car that hit him was a fourth generation 1986 Chevy Corvette C4, and he most definitely didn’t know that the moment his head hit the steering wheel, that he was going to go into a coma and not wake up for the next week.

But he did. And that’s what makes everything worse.


	9. Chapter 9

“He will wake up, Kurt. You know he’s going to wake up.” Blaine insisted. Kurt smiled and curled in on the boy next to him. “Burt is strong, and you know as well as I do that something as normal as a coma isn’t going to keep him down for very long.”  Blaine said, and Kurt raised an eyebrow in shock.

“Normal as a coma, Blaine? Since when is being in a coma normal?”

“For your dad?” Blaine countered, and Kurt sighed.

“I guess.  I mean cumulatively he has been in a coma for 3 weeks within the past 9 months…”

“He came out of the first one, and you know he’s going to come out of the second one.” They sat in silence for a moment, before Blaine snorted

“What are you laughing at?” Kurt asked, and Blaine shook his head.

“Not laughing, just appreciating the irony. Finn was so adamantly against the idea of his mom being as horrible as she is… yet he went behind her back to tell you about Burt’s accident.” Kurt looked at Blaine weirdly.

“That’s not irony, Blaine.”

Kurt shook his head.




“How are you getting an A in Honors English?”

* * *

_Monday night had the three Andersons and Kurt gathered in the living room watching a movie that had just come out on DVD.  Kurt and Blaine had watched it in theaters, but they had loved it so much that they wanted to watch it again. Julia and Martin hadn’t been to the theaters in over a year so when they were given the option to see a newer movie they jumped at it. About halfway through, Kurt’s phone began to vibrate.  He saw that it was Finn._

_“It’s Finn…” Kurt whispers to Blaine, and Blaine gives him a sympathetic look._

_“You gonna answer it?” Kurt sighs._

_“I don’t know.  I should just let it go to voicemail, and check it after the movie…”_

_“Then do that.  He ignored you for so long, you can ignore him for another 45 minutes.” Kurt nods, and presses ignore on his phone before returning his attention to the movie. However the phone just continues to vibrate, Finn continues to call. By the end of the movie, he called a total of 15 times. Blaine and Kurt simultaneously shook his head at Finn’s behavior. “Just this afternoon he couldn’t say that he believed you about the abuse, but now he wants to get a hold of you so much that he calls 15 times in a 45 minute period?”_

_“That’s a little much, even for him.” Kurt said, picking up his phone and flipping through his contacts before settling on Finn’s number and hitting call.  The phone only rang for 2 beats before Finn picked up._

_“Dude, where are you?”_

_“I’m at home, with the Andersons, where do you think I’m going to be at 10:30 at night on a Monday?”_

_“Did you not check the dozen of messages I left on your voicemail?”_

_“Uh-uh. We were watching a movie and I wanted to wait until the end to call you back.  What’s up?” Kurt asked, already getting annoyed with his stepbrother’s attitude._

_“Burt’s in a coma!” That changed Kurt’s outlook real fast._

_“What do you mean he’s in a coma?” All three Andersons stopped what they were doing and looked at Kurt who had turned even paler than he normally was._

_“There was a car accident. Some idiot blew a stop sign and Burt was in the middle of the intersection.” Finn told him, and Kurt’s heart was beating a mile a minute._

_“When?” Kurt asked, standing up and going towards the door to put on the shoes he had left there earlier when he and Blaine returned from school._

_“This afternoon.”_

_“And you’re just calling me now?” Kurt yelled into the phone. The Andersons recoiled at the force of Kurt’s shout; they couldn’t imagine what Finn had done._

_“I only found out about an hour or two ago Dude.” Finn said. “Burt’s cellphone got destroyed in the accident and all they could do to contact family was by his driver’s license. Police came to the door about four hours ago and told mom. She rushed to the hospital and then a little while later called to tell me…”_

_“And she never bothered to think to tell me, his son.” Kurt filled in the rest. Finn sighed._

_“Yea, I’m sorry Kurt.”_

_“What hospital, Finn?” Kurt asked._

_“Lima Memorial.”_

_“I’ll be there as soon as possible.” They both hung up and Kurt turned around to face the Andersons.  “Dad was in a car accident. He’s now in a coma. Carole didn’t want me to know.”_

_“C’mon, I’ll take you to the hospital.” Martin said, quickly grabbing his keys off the hook by the front door as he slipped his own shoes on. Blaine took one look at his mother and they both said in an instant._

_“We’re coming with you.”_

* * *

_So 20 minutes later had all four of them sitting in Martin’s car on their way to Lima Memorial. Kurt was shaking in the back seat, with Blaine’s arms wrapped around him. Blaine was whispering comforting words into his ear. “He’ll be okay; everything’s going to turn out okay.  Just wait and see.” But Kurt didn’t believe it.  He wasn’t going to believe it until he saw for a fact that his father wasn’t dead, and until his father woke up from the coma he was in. With Martin and his lead foot driving, they got to Lima Memorial 10 minutes faster than Kurt would have if he’d been driving a fact Kurt was extremely thankful for. Martin had pulled up to the front of the hospital and Kurt, Blaine and Julia jumped out as Martin then went to park the car. Kurt ran into the hospital with the others hot on his heels._

_“Burt Hummel. Where is he?” He asked the woman at the front desk, but Julia stepped up to the desk as well._

_“Hello Maria, would you mind telling us what room Burt Hummel’s in?”_

_“Oh sure Doctor Anderson. Friend of yours?” The small woman sitting in the swivel chair asked and Julia smiled._

_“Something like that. Kurt here is his son.” Maria was looking up the room number for Burt when she saw Burt Hummel’s room number and status in the computer._

_“Oh dear, I’m so sorry. He’s in Room 204B.  You know where that is, right Julia?” She nodded._

_“Of course. Listen, if my husband comes in, direct him on up, will you?” Maria nodded._

_“Of course.”_

_“Thank you.”_

_Kurt was speechless.  He knew that Julia was a doctor, but he had no idea that she worked here of all places. “You know her?” Kurt asked.  Julia nodded and smiled._

_“I work here, and knowing the reception staff, really helps.” She winked at him, as they made their way to the elevator. On the way up, Kurt was getting antsy.  He wanted to know how his father was doing._

_The elevator opened up and Julia took the lead making their way to Burt’s room. When they arrived the door was closed.  Kurt stood outside of it, and took a deep breath. “Go on in, Kurt. See how your Dad is.”_

_“I will…. I want to. It’s just…”_

_“What is it?”_

_“This is going to be the first time I’ll have seen Carole since…” And both Blaine and Julia knew exactly when he had last seen her._

_“It’s going to be all right. We’ll be right out here.  She won’t try anything in a hospital. Trust me.” Julia tried to reassure him, but it wasn’t as reassuring as Kurt hoped._

_“Do you want us to go in with you?” Blaine asked, and Kurt shook his head after a minute of hesitation._

_“I really should go in on my own.” They both nodded, but Kurt didn’t move._

_“You need to go in, Kurt.” He takes a deep breath, and opens the door._

_When Kurt finally walked into the room after minutes of coaxing from both Julia and Blaine, he saw Carole sitting in a chair at his father’s bedside, with her back to the door. Finn was sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the room, appearing to sleep. Kurt took a deep breath, before walking up to the bed._

_“Hello Carole.” He said, and she looked up at him, and narrowed her eyes._

_“What are you doing here?” She asked, with a bite to her tone._

_“I came to see my father.” Kurt said, as if the answer were completely obvious._

_“Your father didn’t want you in his life.” Carole told him, and Kurt shook his head, not believing for a single second anything she told him._

_“That’s not true. Dad’s been trying to get me to come back ever since the day I moved out and you know it!” Kurt countered his voice remaining calm and steady, not wanting to cause his dad any unnecessary worry even in his comatose state._

_“He doesn’t want a sniveling, whining brat for a son.  It’s a good thing you left when you did because much more of your crap and he wouldn’t have wanted you around anymore.” She said standing up from her chair, and facing the step-son she always hated.  If Burt could see them now, he’d probably laugh at the irony of the fact that he spent so much time and energy trying to get Carole and Kurt to talk out their problems, that it took him landing in the hospital before they would even deign to be in the same room together._

_“That’s a lie. Dad’s always loved me.  He was always telling me to be who I am and to not let anyone else tell me to do otherwise.” Kurt told her._

_“Looks like you failed him.” She snarked and Kurt shook his head, and stared her down._

_“If anyone failed anyone it was you failing me.” He told her, before moving to the other side of the bed, so he wasn’t as close to her as he was.  Being in such close proximity to her was making him feel a bit uneasy. “You were supposed to be a mother who loved and cared for me. But you didn’t, you just hit me, and hurt me. You just wanted to abuse me.” Carole rolled her eyes._

_“I never abused you.” She said, her voice rising. A split second later, Julia walked into the room, fully dressed in a lab coat holding Burt’s clipboard in her hand._

_“Is everything okay in here?  I couldn’t help but overhear a commotion.” She said sweetly. It was a sickeningly sweet tone of voice that she reserved for dealing with the family of patients who believe she doesn’t know what she’s doing, and of course idiots who like to abuse their step-sons._

_“Everything is fine, Doctor.” Carole said, not looking at Kurt, but returning her gaze to her husband._

_“Yes Julia, everything is peachy.  Except my stepmother being a bitch.” Kurt snorted at the end and Julia chuckled._

_“How dare you –” Carole stopped and took a second to go over exactly what she had just heard. “Julia you know her by name?” She accuses her stepson, who just nods._

_“Oh, did I not introduce myself properly?” Julia says in the same sweet voice “I’m Dr. Julia Anderson.  Kurt moved in with me and my family a few weeks ago.” She said, walking around to the other side of the bed and bringing her arm up and around Kurt’s shoulders._

_Carole scoffed at the introduction and shook her head. “So you’re the reason my husband is in this state?”_

_“No Mrs. Hummel that would be you.” Julia corrected the wicked woman._

_“How do you figure?” Carole asked, her rage starting to show._

_“Had you not mistreated Kurt to the point he needed refuge…” Julia said pointedly. “We never would have had to offer him a place in our home.” She placed an emphasis on the word ‘our’ by tugging Kurt closer to her in a side-hug that made him feel relieved to have her with him._

_“How did you even find out what happened?” Carole demanded of Kurt, who was about to answer, when Finn spoke up._

_“I told him.” Apparently the arguing woke him up, and he had been listening to his mother and the strange doctor woman disagreeing the entire time._

_“You Finn?” Carole asks, disbelief written all over her face. Finn nods his head and takes a deep breath to calm his nerves. “Why?”_

_“You’ve gone off the deep end, Mom.” Finn said as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.  “Between hurting Kurt and treating him like a slave….” Finn looked to Kurt who smiled back at him. It was readily apparent that Finn believed Kurt, and Kurt couldn’t have asked for better timing. “And now tonight…  Not calling to tell him that Burt was in an accident?  You’ve gone too far.” Finn said definitively._

_“Why you little ingrate!” Carole shouted at her son. “I put up with all your crap for 17 long years and this is how you repay me?” She stalks over towards where Finn was standing, her hand raised ready to slap her son across the face, when Julia’s hand intercepts it._

_“Touch him or Kurt and I will have security escort you from the building.” Julia informs her._

_“You can’t do that.  I’m his wife; I have the right to be here.” Carole protests indignantly._

_“The only people who have the right to be here are the ones not causing Burt’s blood pressure to spike.” Julia pointed to the monitor to her and Kurt’s right that showed an unusual spike in Burt’s blood pressure. His heart rate had been increasing steadily as well. “Now either shut up, or leave the room.  I don’t particularly care which. I am a doctor at this hospital, and you will listen to me when I say that any more arguing in front of Burt, may be detrimental to his recover.”_

_Carole looked at the three conscious people in the room in turn. She moved her head from Julia Anderson, the woman she had only met today, her son who had betrayed her, and her step-son, the bane of her existence. Then she looked at her husband, lying absolutely still in the hospital bed. With a huff of breath, she made her way out of the room, and left the others to wonder when she would be coming back._

_“You were brilliant.” Kurt smiled radiantly at Julia, who returned the smiled with equal enthusiasm_

_“Thank you.” She nodded. “I’m gonna go see if Blaine and Martin have found each other yet. We’ll come back in a little while.” And with that she left the room.  It was just a comatose Burt Hummel, and his two sons, Kurt Hummel, and Finn Hudson. Kurt turned to look at Finn, and bit his lip, unsure of Finn’s motivations._

_“Thanks for believing me Finn. It means a lot to me.” Finn shrugged and smiled at his brother._

_“I know we haven’t acted like it much but… we are brothers.  And brothers stick together. “_

* * *

“I didn’t think that Finn was going to come around.” Blaine said and Kurt nodded.

“Tell me about it.  It only took him, 6 months, but he finally started acting like a real brother.  Too bad it took me moving out and Dad in a coma for him to come to that realization…” Kurt lamented.

“I like to think he would have come to that realization on his own.” Blaine said and Kurt shrugged his shoulders.

“Maybe, I don’t know. I’m just glad he was on my side from that moment on, because if he wasn’t… the next few days would have been a hell of a lot harder. Especially with Carole’s antics the next day.”

“Yea… that was crazy.” Blaine nodded, not really believing what had happened between Kurt, Finn and Carole that Wednesday.


	10. Chapter 10

_Sitting in the middle of Physics wasn’t the most stimulating experience at the moment.  Kurt was barely retaining any information that his teacher was lecturing about. All of his attention was focused on his father, and his father’s wellbeing. When he would recover, if he would recover. His teachers had been made aware of his father’s situation the moment he arrived at school the previous day. They had all agreed to let him keep his cell-phone on vibrate so that he would be reachable in case something happened. Which he was thankful for, because a minute or two later, his phone started to vibrate in his pocket. He quickly stood up and took the phone out of his pocket.  He checked to see who it was, and he saw the Caller-ID tell him that it was Finn. He made his way out of the room, showing his phone to the teacher who just waved him off.  Some of his classmates were shooting him scathing looks, wondering why he was able to get away with answering his phone during class, but those in the Warblers were well aware and hushed the few that whispered._

_Kurt answered the call and before he could even greet Finn, his step-brother was already speaking._

_“Kurt, we need to talk.” Finn said in a rush, his tone of voice filled with stress and grief._

_“About what?  Is Dad okay?” Kurt asked anxiously._

_“Burt’s fine.  It’s mom that’s the problem right now.” Finn said, and Kurt sighed.  Of course it was Carole.  It was always Carole._

_“What do you mean, what has she done now?” He asked, and Finn stumbled for words for a moment, unsure of how to tell Kurt the information he had just learned a few minutes ago._

_“Well nothing yet, but she wants to pull the plug on him.” Finn said, finally deciding to just be blunt._

_“What?” Kurt exclaimed. “She can’t do that.  He hasn’t even been in the coma for 48 hours!” Kurt shouted, resulting in a few teachers popping their heads out of their classrooms a few seconds later, only to let it go when they saw who it was._

_“I know!  I overheard her talking on the phone. She wants to pull the plug and collect the life insurance and the inheritance.” Finn said reluctantly.  As much as he wanted to be there for his brother, he still had a bit of loyalty to his mother._

_“What inheritance?  The shop?  Wow she’ll get 50% of the shop, Big Deal!” Kurt said sarcastically._

_“Why only 50%?” Finn asked confused. He had never heard of any insurance or inheritance before.  As far as he knew everything would be split between the three of them._

_“The other 50% is mine.  Mom and Dad went into the shop as Partners.  When she died, her half was left to me in trust.  Carole can’t touch it.” Kurt told him. “Now that I think about it, since I turned 18, I can take control of my portion of the shop and start drawing from it…. Well at least that takes care of some things I’ve been worrying about…” Kurt said thinking about the money that had been left in a trust for him when his mom had died, earning interest over the past 11 years._

_“And the life insurance?” Finn asked, and Kurt scoffed._

_“Unless Dad got around to changing the beneficiary and I don’t think he would have even thought about it… it all goes to me after his death.” Kurt told him. Finn huffed._

_“So there’s no reason to want to pull the plug?” He asked and Kurt shook his head, even though Finn wouldn’t have been able to see it from the Hospital’s parking lot._

_“Not really.”_

_Neither of them said anything for a few minutes, until finally Finn spoke again. “So why is she doing it?”_

_“I don’t know.  Just keep me informed, will ya?” Kurt asked his brother, something a few days ago he didn’t think he’d be able to do. Finn was touched that Kurt trusted him to keep him informed._

_“Will do, Dude.”_

_“Thanks for letting me know, Finn. “_

_When Kurt hung up the phone, he was leaning up against the wall staring up at the ceiling.  He wasn’t sure what to do. Carole wanted to essentially kill his father – legally, and he didn’t know what he was going to be able to do about it. There was only one person that he knew of that would be able to help him with this. Well two people, but only one person has the legal know how and power to get anything done._

_He looks through his phone’s contact list, and selects a number and presses call.  A few minutes later, the man at the other end of the line answers. “Hey Martin, are you busy?”_

* * *

_It was twenty minutes later and Kurt had finally gotten off the phone with Blaine’s father. They had discussed Burt’s legal rights, Carole’s legal rights and Kurt’s legal rights based on the documents Kurt believes Burt had in the safe at the Shop. In the end, Martin said he’d do everything within his power to stop her from going through with her plan, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a backup. This is why Kurt was now on his way to Blaine’s current class. Martin was calling Blaine out of school, and them him and Blaine were going on a little road trip._

_Kurt knocked on the door and a moment later when Mrs. Allen popped her head out of the room, Kurt smiled politely._

_“Hello Mrs. Allen, may I speak with Blaine please?” Kurt was sure to use proper English, and not the poor excuse he was taught at McKinley, especially as Mrs. Allen was an English teacher with a grammar Nazi compulsion._

_“Now Kurt, you know I don’t allow disruptions in my classroom.” Kurt nodded his head apologetically._

_“I know, but his father is in the process of calling Blaine out right now.  Either you let me talk to him or you’ll have another disruption in 10 minutes when the office calls to let you know he is allowed to leave.” Kurt points out and she looks down at the boy in front of her, still skeptical. She had never let a student convince her to let another student leave her class before, especially not two students who were knowingly good friends amongst the staff._

_“Please, Mrs. Allen.  It’s about my father.” Kurt had Mrs. Allen a little later in the day.  She taught every English class at Dalton, except for AP English Literature which is what all the seniors are forced to take.  She sighed._

_“Fine.” She acquiesced. “Blaine, pack up your stuff.” Blaine looked at the door curiously, but did as he was told.  A minute later he was outside the door with Kurt and Mrs. Allen was back inside the classroom lecturing about Shakespeare and the numerous plays she was having her students read that semester._

_“What’s going on Kurt?” Blaine asked in a rush, concerned that Kurt wasn’t in his class, and that he was being told to leave his own._

_“Carole wants to pull the plug on Dad.” Kurt said plainly, and Blaine’s mouth dropped open._

_“But he hasn’t even been…” Kurt nods in understanding._

_“I know.  I talked to your Dad and he’s going to try to get an injunction to prevent her from pulling it, but right now we need to go and get a few things out of my Dad’s safe.” Kurt said, grabbing hold of Blaine’s hand and pulling him down the hallway._

_“Like what?” Blaine asked trailing after Kurt._

_“His living will, and Last Will and Testament. “ Blaine’s eyes widened._

_“I understand the Living Will, but the Last Will and Testament?  Isn’t that a bit morbid now, considering the circumstances?” Blaine asked, and Kurt stopped to turn around and look at him._

_“Carole wants to pull the plug, so she can get all of Dad’s money and assets.  I need to look at those documents to show her just what she won’t be getting when he dies.  Hopefully 40 years from now.” He added with his eyes closed._

* * *

_An hour later, Kurt and Blaine were standing in the office of Hummel’s Tire and Lube.  Blaine looked around nervously and Kurt was determined._

_“How are you even going to get into the safe?  Isn’t your dad the only one with the combination?”  Kurt shook his head._

_“No. Since the safe was put in, only three people have ever had the combination.  My mom, my dad, and me. Dad is of the mindset that only people who need to know the combination to the safe should know it, not just anyone who is in the family.”  Kurt swallowed.  “I didn’t know the combination until after Mom died.  When he started needed help around the office, I came in and worked with him. He kept getting annoyed having to stop working on cars every time I needed the safe opened to put documents in there or whatever, so finally he told me the combination. I’ve never told a soul, and I’m confident that he has never told anyone either.” Kurt said, before striding over towards the safe in the side of the office wall and spinning the dial to clear it.  He spun the same combination of numbers that Burt had just 2 days prior and pulled the handle.  The safe sprung open.  “Told ya.”_

_He pulled out all the paperwork inside the safe, and looked at each document carefully before putting the rest back.  Because Burt had been in here the morning before the crash, the documents Kurt needed were right near the top of the pile, though Kurt had no way of knowing that. Kurt turned around and looked at the copier in the corner of the room and placed the documents so that they would scan properly and hit the green button for print. A few moments later, there was a copy of Burt’s Living Will and a copy of Burt’s Last Will and Testament sitting before both Blaine and Kurt.  Kurt turned around and put both of the originals back in the safe, before locking it up again._

_“I don’t want her trying to get into my bag or anything to destroy them.” He said at Blaine’s confused expression._

_“Ahh.”_

_“If the hospital needs to see the originals, then I can get them, but for now, copies will have to suffice.” Kurt took a deep breath, before pulling Blaine out of the office by his hand. He stopped halfway through the shop and looking at Blaine, he smiled. “Thank you… you know for coming with me.  For being there for me throughout all this…”_

_“There’s no where I’d rather be.” Blaine reassured him, hugging him into an embrace. “I care about you so much, Kurt. You couldn’t keep me away by beating me with a baseball bat.” Kurt giggled._

_“Good to know.” He smiled, not looking Blaine in the eye.  Blaine picked Kurt’s chin up so they were looking eye to eye._

_“What’s wrong?” Blaine asked, and Kurt shook his head._

_“Nothing.”_

_“Kurt?” Blaine asked, again not believing for a single second the lie Kurt gave him._

_“I’m scared.” He whispered. Blaine understood. Well he didn’t understand.  No one could understand the fear of losing a parent like Kurt can.  He’d already lost one, had the possibility of losing another, and had gone through torture at the hands of a step-parent. But Blaine could sympathize._

_“I know.” Blaine holds him tighter places a very light kiss on Kurt’s forehead.  He didn’t want to give Kurt false hope by saying that ‘Everything is going to be okay.’ Or telling him that ‘Your father will be fine.’ Because there’s no way of knowing that and Blaine doesn’t want to be responsible for Kurt’s emotional heartbreak if that does happen.  But Blaine needs to be optimistic, and so he does what he does best.  Physical comfort._

* * *

_A little while later, Kurt and Blaine were walking into the hospital.  They entered through the same entrance they went through on Monday night and saw Maria, the receptionist who was working the front desk again, and they waved hello. She smiled warmly at the two of them. She had grown a fondness for the two boys, especially after hearing of the heartache Kurt had gone through in his life from Julia._

_They made their way up the elevator and through the maze of hallways and patient rooms until they came to Burt’s room.  Inside was, as expected Carole and Finn sitting at his bedside. Carole had her back to the door, and Finn looked up at Kurt walked in the room. Immediately he stood up and ushered Kurt out of the room, leaving Blaine standing awkwardly in the center of the room, looking at a man who he had for a brief moment felt both utter contempt and adoration for; along with standing next to a woman who he felt no emotion for except derision.  He walked over towards the chair Finn had been sitting in and sat down, trying to avoid glancing at Carole, as if one look from her into his eyes would turn him to stone._

_“So why are you here, don’t you have school to go to?” Carole asked contemptuously, Blaine bit his tongue to prevent him from saying anything he’d regret later._

_“My Dad let me leave early.”  Blaine said carefully; Carole scoffed._

_“To sit at the bedside of a man you barely knew?” Blaine shook his head._

_“To be there for my best friend while he sat at the bedside of a man I barely know. Though truth be told, I know more about him than you think I do.” Blaine told her.  She appeared to take that as a taunt._

_“Like what?” She asked rolling her eyes._

_“Like how conflicted he was when Kurt gave him the ultimatum.” Blaine said offhandedly._

_”What ultimatum?” Carole asked carefully._

_“You or him.” Blaine said cavalierly, a fact that made Carole want to smack the prep school boy in front of her. “That’s essentially how it broke down. Burt could have either stayed with you, or divorce you and get Kurt back. But that was the only way he’d get his son to even consider it.”_

_“What makes you think he chose Kurt?” Blaine smiled and looked at her innocently._

_“I never said he chose Kurt.” Carole huffed._

_“Whatever.”  There was silence for a minute.  Blaine was basking in the joy of that small battle won, and Carole didn’t want to go to battle with the pipsqueak again within such a short period of time._

_“He didn’t sleep at home Sunday night, did he?” Blaine said out of nowhere._

_“How did you…?” Carole asked, and then almost as immediately as she asked, she came to the correct realization. “Right…Finn.” Blaine nodded his head and Carole huffed. “So what, you want a medal for knowing that my husband left me the night before his accident?” Carole asked, and Blaine shook his head._

_“Not really. I would like to know why you had the audacity to physically abuse your step-son, but you’ve denied it this long, I don’t think I’m going to get anything out of you.” Blaine said, looking her straight in the eye before turning his attention back to Burt._

_“I didn’t abuse him.” She said adamantly, though her voice quivered a bit._

_“Did you ever raise a hand to him? Did you ever leave a bruise on his body?  Did you physically touch him in a way that no parent should ever touch their child?” Blaine asked the questions in rapid succession not giving Carole a chance to defend herself.  But when he did give himself time to catch a breath, she still said nothing. He nodded, as if he knew that was going to be here answer. “Yea, that’s what I thought.” There was a bit more silence, the eerie type of silence that only occurs when an awkward conversation isn’t quite over, but isn’t ready to be continued yet._

_“Kurt loved you, you know.” Blaine said after a minute, and Carole looked up at him. “At least he did before you and Burt got married.”_

_“How would you know?” Carole shot back disdainfully._

_“Because unlike you, I actually listen when Kurt speaks.” Carole rolled her eyes._

_“Whatever.” She said again, it becoming her go to word when she didn’t have a retort for the 17 year old in front of her._

_“He loved you, he cared for you, he trusted you. But you went and broke that trust. You should be ashamed of yourself.” Blaine told her, and Carole let out a frustrated huff._

_“And you should learn how to talk to your elders. Show them some respect.” She argued, and Blaine shook his head._

_“I don’t show respect to anyone who assaults and abuses an innocent person.” Blaine said, before standing up and exiting the room; leaving Carole to sit and stew in her own juices for a while.  When he gets outside and sees Kurt and Finn talking down the hall, he walks over.  He overhears them talking as he approaches._

_“Martin's already called Julia to warn her.” Finn looked perplexed, and Blaine rolled his eyes at the taller boy’s next question._

_“Who is Martin?  Who is Julia?”_

_“They’re my parents, Finn.”_

_“Ohhhh….” It seemed realization had dawned on Finn. “What do they have to do with anything?”  Apparently not._

_“My dad’s a lawyer who can get a judge to order Carole and the hospital to prevent them from pulling the plug.” Blaine explained. “My mom is a doctor here; you saw her Monday night. She’s the one who delivered the verbal beat down on your mother.” Finn nodded, smiling slightly at the memory. “She is able to inform every doctor that works on this floor, that if Carole attempts to talk them into pulling his life support, to call her, and to prevent Carole.” Blaine clarified._

_“I told you I would take care of this, Finn.”  Finn nodded._

_“Wasn’t sure how you were going to do it, Dude.” Kurt shook his head._

_“To be honest, neither did I.  But after talking to Martin, and looking over the documents I got out of Dad’s safe…. I feel pretty confident that when Dad wakes up, he’ll still have a body to wake up to.”_


End file.
